Monstress
by Mystycal mysty
Summary: Kidnapping the mate she's known was hers after Changing 17 years prior,leads to unexpected adventures chasing the preternatural world and those who control it.Izzy thought they knew a lot, little did they know… OOC J/B Fighting/lemons
1. Chapter 1

**I always see people put in their authors notes that this is their first story and to go easy on them... now I understand why. I'm a little nervous. I didn't think I would be. But hey, I want to share the story that's been brewing in my mind for a time now, so... I'll deal. **

**Please don't be offended if I don't respond to anyones input, advice, or comments. I know where this story is going and where it ends. If you don't like it, it's simple enough not to read it. **

**THIS IS RATED M FOR LANGUAGE, HORROR, AND SEX! YOU KNOW THE RULES!**

**I DON"T OWN IT STEPHANIE MYERS DOES THAT STORY CALLED TWILIGHT THAT IS... I OWN THIS ONE.**

**~INTRO~**

BPOV

I watched, squatted on my haunches as the two men advanced to the back of the cooler truck and loaded box after box. They were at ease with their tasks completely unaware of their surroundings or what was going on within them. Idly chatting to one another, one skinny and short, the other one a little taller but had some chunk to him. The volunteer building only 7 paces from the rear of the cooler truck they were loading, it was taking them no time to load. The rear parking lot lay empty save for a couple volunteer vehicles, it was edged right up against the vast forest behind me. I could hear the hustle and bustle inside the old building, the volunteers packing up from the day to go home. I counted 9 other heartbeats in the place, voices raising and lowering as those inside conversed with one another. I blinked changing my vision so I could see them more clearly through the walls.

I sat back from the place a good 50 ft, right inside the tree line, studying what was taking place in front of me, waiting for my opportunity. The back of the truck was almost filled. It was harder when they were less organized, you couldn't rely on a set of actions to comply with mine. Time for some action, I was tired of waiting around and they were nearly finished.

I believed that a good ol' distraction was in order. It always did the trick. I couldn't go out in the sun, and these two guys would be leaving soon. Nightfall would be here soon and the truck would be on the road. We could follow and take them then, but that could get messy and they would report it. Taking from the back of the truck, only a couple of boxes could be added up to incompetence and the failure to add correctly. It was all around safer and less effort this way.

I looked around wondering what the hell I was going to do. Blinking again to normal sight, I sighed in frustration. There wasn't much here to look at. I didn't want to destroy their cars or anything. I wasn't here to hurt them or the property. That would defeat the purpose of me sitting here for the last 2 hours waiting for them to start loading the truck and then leave me alone with it for 15 seconds. I only needed 15 measly seconds for crying in a bucket! Or less.

I sighed. "I need some help with the distraction, what do you suggest?" I whispered into the afternoon breeze.

Silence followed. Great. Seemed I was talking to myself. I didn't even hear my comrade leave; I was too focused on the 2 men chatting away. They were worse than gossipy woman in a nail salon.

Suddenly from the front of the building there was a load crash and a fountain of water suddenly appeared over the front of the one story building and then fell then rose again. I smiled. Fire hydrant, brilliant, why didn't I think of that?

It worked too; the men were rushing to the front of the building with exclamations on their lips along with confusion. I eyed the back of the van and watched as three boxes lift seemingly by themselves into the air. The boxes flew towards me flying over the ground fast enough to be a mere blur. Nearing they slowed slightly until they were in the arms of the woman next to me. See? Was that so fucking difficult? 15 seconds! More like 10 but whose counting.

I gave her a sideways look, grabbed a box from her, and wrinkled my nose as we took off into the trees, not looking back to see the chaos pursue. That didn't matter. The only part that mattered was that we had the boxes and no one had seen. "That was fantastic. One of your best I must say. Although, that ripe smell coming off of you from the storm drain, I assume you went through, isn't going to make your mate very happy."

"He'll get over it. He'd fuck me if I was drenched in alligator piss." We both laughed knowing it was true.

"You know that wasn't my fault, I told you to back up."

She gave me an incredulous look, "You didn't tell me to back up, you told me to duck!"

"Semantics."

"My ass! You got me covered in piss all because you thought it would be cool to be Crocodile Dundee for a day. A whole fucking day! Totally not worth getting pissed on!"

"It was a good idea at the time, how was I suppose to know it would piss like that!" I chuckled "Besides as you said, Peter still fucked you anyway."

"That's because he didn't want to wait a week while the smell wore off!"

"It was a good idea. Though, those fucking teeth and claws stunk forever! I'm just glad it eventually wore off. You have to admit between the teeth and the claws it was worth it."

"I will never again go croc hunting with you."

"Yes, you will."

She paused as if contemplating it, "Yeah, your right. I would go again, but next time I'm holding the croc."

"Deal."  
We sped up laughing, anxious to get home.

"Nice job by the way, and the good shit at that! That'll help the pissiness that Peter will throw my way from my stench when we get to camp."

"Better his pissiness than an alligators."

She smacked my arm and laughed.

We both chuckled and spurred each other on as we made our way through the undergrowth eventually taking to the trees and zigzagging our way across the vast forest that lead us home.

It wasn't long before we got back to the fortress. Dropping off our new supplies I raced for the shower.

Our shower consisted of a waterfall coming out of the mountain that made up the back of our home. It came off the mountain in sections and was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. It ascended 150ft. from the angular rocks that lay at its foundation. Half way down, the cascade of water separated, forming 2 private waterfalls that were about 11 spacious ft. each. If you stood in one you couldn't see the other, the middle formation jutted out too extensively. It was perfect and beautiful.

I shed my clothes, quickly climbing into the spray, retrieving soap from the back ledge under the spray. Washing off the grime and filth that stuck to me I moaned and groaned. I hated putting that shit on my body; camouflage was necessary though and came with the territory.

We were lucky when we found this place and it's hidden wonders. If I didn't know better I would think the place was made for us. The canopy of evergreens rose above us giving us the desired shade from the sun and creating a cosmic affect that made us feel as if we were the only ones in the world. Surrounding and protecting us from a world we no longer were apart of. It brought a peace to me that was much needed and appreciated.

We had been here for the last 6 years. Building and waiting. Doing necessary recon. There wasn't much to do on down time anyway, not that there was much of it, and the restlessness was sometimes too much. There was always so much to do, but only so much you could do at a time. So we took a chapter out of Robin Hood and built our fortress. This fortress and one just like it about 3 miles away. The other one is three times as large and tree houses are three times as many. This one housed Peter and Charlotte in one of the rooms and Nevell and I had our own rooms separate from each other. We had a mile of fortress constructed into the trees. There were only 9 rooms total. Spaced far apart for as much privacy as possible. One main large room that was constructed for all of us to gather having all the commodities we need to feed and converse. A studio of sorts that was separated into sections each of us having a large corner of it for whatever we each individually wanted to do with it. It was actually larger than the main 'house'. The other 4 one-room dwellings were situated away from each other as well and were just one-bedroom dwellings. Each section was connected with swinging bridges. We really didn't need those but it made for appearances and it looked cool. We all gave each other the privacy that we could, but that was difficult at times and impossible at others. I had grown used to sharing certain aspects of my life that I once would have never considered sharing or thought I would have to.

It really didn't bother me. In the past 15 years I had grown accustomed to lots of things that were so far beyond me as a human. I had to adjust quickly; there had been no choice. It was either that or have the Volturi step in and take care of me.

I thank Nevell for that full heartily. When I woke up in this life I was freaking out and having the biggest emo-session that you could possibly imagine. And I was alone. So fucking alone. There was no one that could help me. I couldn't remember my name or how I got where I was and all the while was trying to avoid the shit storm around me. My new sight, smell, hearing, it was all too much in it's own right. Then add the tornado that started happening around me and it was, too say the least, overwhelming. I was jumping at my shadow for Christ's sake!

Nevell found me. I was running around Canada 2 months later trying to dodge another shit storm. He came up on me and thought an unseen, unknown force was attacking me. I was trying to calm down and catch myself some dinner and the thirst had overcome me. He gave chase trying to help calm me the fuck down, or save me maybe, and watched in bewildered silence as a deer passed in front of me, _flew_ by me I should say. I attacked it, drained it, quenched part of my thirst, and the shit storm settled to a degree that made me approachable. He was dumbfounded. I was exhausted.

When I could articulate again, I tried to explain to him what I thought was going on. He stepped in and helped me. I think I was a bit of a conundrum to him and a fascinating puzzle he thought he should try to solve in the beginning. I let him. I needed all the help I could get. He was intrigued. I would have been too. We found out together what made me tick, what set off the storms of destruction, how to control it, and we became close over the next 3 years. It took some time.

Being a new vampire and not knowing who I was or where I came from, letting Nevell close enough to me to help me? To say it was intense would be an understatement. I was more than a little wary. He stayed by my side though and wouldn't budge. I was thirsty all the time and my mood swings were diabolical. I didn't know the answers to his questions. I knew I was a vampire that was about the extent of it. I had no internal compass, no idea what this all meant, or how I was going to go about it. I was confused and emotional.

After some prodding and goading from Nevell I started to remember my previous life before this one. In more detail than I wanted. I remembered things that I wished would have been eaten away by the venom. Nevell listened and at the time I worried about him taking me under his wing. For many reasons. There were so many unknowns surrounding me. Equations that did not add up, who was I suppose to trust? The more I remembered the less I knew the answers, and was afraid to find some of them out. I didn't know what he wanted from me. I knew he was different, which scared me. He's a quiet guy and I found it hard to ask my questions about him or what he was planning on doing with me. I was scared of my own shadow. When I was more stable he told me some about his life. How he had come about. I started to ask questions and gradually I pulled my head out of my ass and realized how lucky I was to have found Nevell.

Over time and many conversations that lasted days we found that we had something in common. The Cullens. He knew of Carlisle, had seen him in Vulterra decades before. Once we made that realization a whole other shit storm started brewing. Questions arose that couldn't be answered and were a wash with a kaleidoscope of confusion. We pieced things together to a degree, but we needed more information. He told me about a couple of vampires that could possibly help us and so we set off in that third year to find them.

These two vampires knew one of the Cullens. The first Cullen, coincidently, I remembered when the images finally started coming from my past. He was actually in the forefront even before my human family was. His face was always in the background of my thoughts once his face emerged in them.

It took 2 years to track them down. If you don't want to be found in this world, it's easy to get lost and all but forgotten in the life we live. Nevell put out feelers in enough places in the underground that eventually _they_ had found _us_. They wanted to know what the hell we were raising all the fuss about and why we had sought them out. Vampires are like cats. They can only let the mouse run in front of them so many times before they reach out and put a paw on it.

We told them who we were, what information we had gathered from each other, and what I had eventually remembered in all its glory. Nevell, of course put a huge chunk of the pieces together with information he already had, and I filled in some major gaps and information I didn't even know I had. We took time piecing shit together. Peter and Charlotte knew Jasper, and the rest of the Cullens. They hadn't seen them in years. Peter and Charlotte were more nomads like Nevell. It had been too hard to keep up with the Cullens. Peter said the last time they had seen them was ironically Forks. Then they disappeared. Phone numbers were changed, and to vampires the 7 years they hadn't had contact was not unheard of. In fact it had been 13 years before that rendezvous in forks that they had seen Jasper. We told them of our theories, they added to them, and we quickly combined forces.

The next 10 years was entertaining to say the least.

I was interrupted from my musing as Nevell joined me under the spray. I had felt him approaching and when he joined me the soothing beat of his heart relaxed me more than the spray of the water ever could. We were close, and had shared many things, but never had become anything… more. He knew that what laid in wait for me was much more than he could compete with and kept our relationship chaste. We were comfortable around each other though and grew into a comfortable understanding. That didn't stop our flirting, how could you not? The man had etheral beauty of a vampire.

"Peter is having a fit over Charlotte's new... perfume," he chuckled and began to wash.

I laughed at that. I'm sure 'fit' was a polite way of saying Peter was having an utter cow. "I'm sure he is. I don't blame him really, but that was pretty genius of her to access the drainage to create the distraction that was needed."

He snorted, "You know as well as I do that you could have done the same thing without having her wade into that muck." I knew he was right, but Charlotte liked being a part of our exploits, she liked having her hand in our adventures.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Peter will get over it. Charlotte is her own woman and I have no control over her. She does what she wants when she wants to; I don't stand in her way. Besides it takes some of the pressure off of me. Shit can go funky in a second when it comes to me."

He shook his head, his shoulders shaking with the laughter that was threatening to overflow, "Whatever you say. You aren't a damsel in distress and you know it, you could have gone alone and saved Charlotte the spanking she's getting."

"Like Charlotte would complain about that! I know I'm not a damsel, but it's more fun with a cohort."

"I hear ya there," he gave me a look that said more than the words he put forth. With a smirk on my lips I winked at him turning and climbing out of the waterfall and sat on the flat rock on shore that held the rest of the evening sun. Relaxing and letting it dry me naturally.

Nevell finished and joined me. We were quiet for sometime again.

"Are you nervous?" he asked in a quiet voice that belied the curiosity that I knew was bubbling over inside him. He knew how important the next events were to me. To all of us really, but for me it was coming face to face with my past and it was more personal for me than it was for the others. The outcome of this would be the truth to all that had been the last 15 years, eh, the last 20 years. A small part of me wondered and doubted my feelings and myself. But the larger part of me wanted to have gone in months if not years ago. I knew I couldn't though. Knew it would create more problems in the long run. We had to have all our information and sources confirmed and we had to have the right attack formulated. The right people in place. What we were about to stir up was bigger than any of us. Once shit hit the fan we had to have our ducks in a row to follow through. And we did. All we had been waiting for was the arrival of said Cullens to get into place.

We had been keeping tabs on them for the past 9 years. Our connections said that they were preparing to come back to their house 550 miles north of here tomorrow morning. That had worked out in our favor beyond our dreams.

I sighed and answered his question "More anxious than anything. I just want this part to go smoothly… get in get out without a hitch. So much depends on the reactions of a select few… that part makes me nervous. The unpredictability of it, ya know?"

"You have to remember that you are one bad ass fucking vampire now and we have back up plans for our back up plans if shit goes wrong. Just be patient and keep your shit together. We've been through more than this, with less. I know you want to go in there guns blazing, but remember the larger picture."

Sighing I stood up, " I know, once we start I'll be focused." Turning to wink at him I grabbed my clothes and took off into the darkness that had enveloped us making my way to my cabin in the treetops. Passing by the main house I grabbed a package of our loot today to take with me.

**I'll try to update once a week if not more. As the story progresses it may become ONLY once a week. THanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I finished going over this last night and decided to post it. Thank you for the reviews and to all who seem to be interested in the story.**

**Stephanie owns Twilight ~ I own this one**

**~PREPERATIONS AND INSIGHT**

After changing clothes first, I headed into the tiny gallery kitchen. My 'tree quarters' were completely open. Glass encompassed the oxygen-al room that enclosed 9 trees. They rose up creating pillars that held the sky lighted roof. Creating my oasis in the trees to be as open as possible, being in the middle of a forest, caused problems with modern luxury. If left open, it was soon realized; anything plush would be destroyed. I didn't feel like replacing furniture every time it fucking rained. It's the end of June, but it still rained quite a bit, not to mention the winters. No thanks.

So most of our dwellings were set up like this. Only the studio was different. Learning that Peter liked to create things that blew up, we had to have special enforcements and structure for him. No glass. Just open air. Re-enforced pillars of cement to hold it up, we had to replace that structure several times before we forbade him his dreams of becoming the next uni-bomber. The people we wanted to blow up wouldn't be too affected by them anyway.

With my gifts it was easy to get the huge glass pieces, furniture and supplies into our secluded sanctuary. It gave me practice and skill of finesse that I much needed in the process. We had anything and everything we coveted and then some. All the individual structures were open except for a bedroom and closet. Mostly bedrooms were left unused. I would tell you that Peter and Charlotte's were used, but I know for a fact it's not. At least it was not used, as it should be. Too many times I had come up on them in the oddest places using nature as their haven of debauchery, so had many others. They didn't care. As long as Peter was getting his, he was in his realm, as was Charlotte. I think they secretly liked the exhibitionism.

Maybe not so secretly.

We ran our stronghold with mostly generators that had been altered and buried into the earth so the noise wasn't a problem. We wanted solar panels but with clouds and the occasional fly over planes we went the less economical way. The only thing we didn't have any need for and left out was any light source. As vampires we saw perfectly at night or day and we didn't see the need for it. They would have been a wasted effort. We made no pretenses out here as to what we are. We didn't cater to the outside human world.

The small kitchen held my necessities only. A large tub like sink, water pumped in from the river, a small fridge, and a microwave. I plunked down my spoils and got a large glass jar that I used as a cup out of the cupboard. Opening the bag of Type O blood I poured it into the glass and threw it in the microwave setting it for 30 seconds. My senses were now alight with the smell of the elixir. Venom pooled into my mouth, I swallowed hard. Closing my eyes I inhaled the delicious aroma it brought forth into my nostrils. My hands fisted waiting for the long 30 sec. to pass. I could feel my Monstress wake and begin to purr. Undulating her claws into my mind.

The buzzer barely got off the first beep before I had the jar out stirred it with a fountain spoon for hot spots and practically poured it down my throat, making sure I didn't miss a drop of heaven. I felt it infiltrate my body slowly, running through my veins enveloping me into a cloud of euphoria. Each human cell rushing my body bringing me close to orgasm. Monstress was fully awake and pulsing in my mind. My mouth opened on it's own in a slack jawed way and I moaned a purr of my own of approval my body was experiencing. Feeling the temperature of my body rise slowly, I trembled with the overload of heightening senses. I breathed slowly savoring the sensations.

I had not fed in 7 days. Being rejuvenated by the fresh blood was euphoric.

As I leapt off my balcony and went sailing into the surrounding trees seconds later, arms outstretched, legs bent back, I'm sure I looked feral. It felt as if the entire forest was alive and being channeled into me. This in between time, from the moment human blood hit my tongue to the time I took my first gulp of animal blood, I relished. Prolonging the inevitable by being picky about the unlucky animal that would finish off my diet for the next 5 to 7 days, I got to savor it just a little longer.

My body swam in the new found power. My senses so heightened it was almost too much. I loved this. Loved feeling the raw adrenaline pumping through me. So did she, my Monstress.

Of all the things coming to terms with being a vampire, controlling my gift was the hardest, and resulted in the craziest experiences I had since waking up to this life. Waking up had been bad enough. Abandoned by my creator, left alone to fend for myself was scary as hell. Add to it a shit storm of events before you take your first real look around, you get a truly fucked up situation.

Imagine waking up to a world that you have no memory of, alone, having the mental stability of a monkey on crack, running on instincts you don't understand nor have any clue about, and have shit start flying at your head, with a voice inside _screaming_ at you to run. Yeah, I know it didn't hurt when the trees and rocks hit me, pummeled me, but the act itself was confusing, overwhelming, and downright scared me shitless, not to mention the woman's voice that somehow I knew had not been there before was snarling and demanding I get my ass out of there. I thought I was being attacked. So did the voice. Being a newborn; let me tell you that doesn't go over too well. So I did what anyone would do in that situation… I ran. I listened to the voice.

That exhilarating feeling of running, the wind in my hair, the miniscule molecules in the air, the smell alone I could distinguish from those molecules, the scenery flying by me at a rate of speed unfathomable and still being able to see every detail of every leaf, twig, branch, and flora was soon drowned out by my freak out that began as I realized flying debris was _following_ me, surrounding me and then engulfing me.

I had found myself in Canada, (I figured out later) running for my life. I'm surprised that I didn't show up on satellite. (Or maybe I did) By some grace of god I did not create too much of a mess close to civilization. A voice inside my head guiding me, coaxing me, and giving me instincts I needed.

I fought with the voice at first; trying to ignore the insane babble of dribble it gave me. Then I argued and tried to reason with the voice. The voice was scary. It had no place being in my head. By the time the thirst got too much I felt like I was having some out of body experience, I finally listened to the voice and lost complete control to her. She made me realized there were elk mixed in the foray of debris passing by me. One actually swept by me in reach, I latched onto it and tore into its fur and flesh. My thirst was eventually quenched and I came to myself, the typhoon had stopped and amongst it was my slaughter. The voice had retreated. At least she had stopped screeching.

Covered in blood, clothes ripped and soiled. I was a mess.

I didn't know my own strength and getting enough blood from a destroyed weaker animal than me, proved to be harder than you would think. Finding that you can't touch anything mild enough not to annihilate it before you drink it's nectar kinda ruins the experience.

Sitting in amongst the fallout that I created, my head on my knees gasping for un-needed breath, feeling calm for the first time since the pain stopped, I gained my first memory.

The voice in my head told me to look, and it felt as if she pushed the first flash of memory at me. It was of a reflecting room with fire and smoke across an expansive floor away from me. Beside the bonfire was a God of a man standing like a statue peering into the flames. His head of dirty blond locks turned to me, the emotion I saw in his black-eyed gaze was overwhelming and confounding. It made my present self-gasp for air. There was such pain, sorrow and love in his beautiful stare that I was momentarily stupefied.

As another person approached him drawing his attention away from us his eyes left mine. The voice screamed with an almighty "_OuuuURrrrS_!", and I felt the surety in that one word and new it to be true.

Before I could act out in the present another memory invaded flashing me the same God in an entryway of a house. The same tenderness as before etched into his eyes and face as he watched me from under those dirty blond locks, made me tremble with emotions un-named. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to reach out to him and let him know I felt the same way.

And although the scenes seemed familiar I could not place them or name the face.

"_OURS_!" the Monstress voice in my head called and this time it was joined with my own. I could feel her inside me pacing, watching with abandon as he raised he head and spoke.

His lips moved, but I didn't understand, I was too distracted by the fact I could actually feel something pacing in me. Before I could react, the onslaught of so many other memories invaded me, slapping at me one after another. None making much sense to my twaddled brain. Random events like snapshots of time swirled before me in no order that seemed relevant or that made any sense. Faces and places I had no name for. Some were clear, but most were smoggy and blurred together.

I don't have a clue how long I sat there. The outside world from my little bubble I was in, dripped away in the background as I searched my brain for more. I found so much space in my head that I knew had not been there before. I tried recounting what I last remembered before the pain and came with empty bottomless pits of more pain and grief mixed with only blackness. Funny that, seeing as the actual visual memories I had held few if any emotions attached to them at all. Only the ones with the god-like man provoked any feelings.

Through the muddle I found words attached to my predicament. Words like human, vampire civilization, diet, blood, thirst, power, werewolves, volatile, violent, betrayal, massacre, bond, mates and more thirst. Always thirst.

I spent the next 2 months figuring out that my surroundings reflected my wants, mood and thirst. The inner voice guided me and fed me truths about myself and together we weeded out what we didn't need or want and became stronger. She built and strengthened my confidences. I tried to contain her with rational. We argued but I grew less wary of her in time. She was a comfort, companion, confidant, and she showed me things that I had forgotten and a perspective I was clueless of. Gave me insight to what my memories held. She seemed to slow down and clip out unimportant details making me look deeper into the reflections I had as a human. At the time most didn't make sense. I had no names for what she showed me. Some faces were familiar, none had names.

My moods were driven mainly by my thirst and the arguments I shared with my Monstress. I knew she was apart of me, and remembered snippets of conversations with someone telling me about having a monster inside. I just didn't know then they meant that there was a literal voice attached to another being. I got the distinct impression from my memory I believed it to be a metaphor for their 'inner demon'. It actually felt like I was sharing my new body. It took some getting used to. Our arguments were profound at times and if I let myself get to thirsty the gale would pick up and then increase.

The quicker I fed the quicker the storm would cease. I fed a lot more frequently than my thirst required of me. Since I started out on animal blood I continued. I tried to stay in the same areas, never venturing far. Instinct told me I didn't want to go near humans. Memories told me I was a vampire. Aloneness told me I was going to have to figure some shit out and do something other than stay in the 10 square mile cocoon I made myself. I was easily distracted, if not from memories than just myself. I found myself fascinating. The power I found was incredible. The world was full of wonderment.

I didn't want to make mistakes with human life, feeding more helped, but that proved to also be unavoidable. My surrounding I had made myself comfortable in became a danger zone for those who entered unawares. That was the largest argument I had with my Monstress. She wanted human blood.

I had taken 2 hikers by surprise and before I had even thought twice I was standing over their drained corpses. I was devastated, Monstress rejoiced. That was the first time I found out that she could take control completely if she had enough will to do it and caught me unaware.

The catastrophe of emotions had been bad that time, not knowing my strength and the emotional fallout was surreal. It was taken out on my surroundings. There wasn't enough to find in the aftermath to bury them.

By then my clothes were almost nil. Cleaning them in the streams I found helped, but in the ma-lay of destroying my surroundings, my clothes also received a bashing. I'm sure I looked like a Neanderthal. The sports bra and underwear I had were about the only things left that were salvageable, and that was negotiable.

After making macabre out of my first humans, I made it my mission to control my strength. If nothing else for the simple fact that if I did come upon humans again, I could maybe stomach the waste from my inner Monstress. She was ruthless. I hated her sometimes. She had no fear, moral standard or guilt when it came to taking what she wanted. The only thing I could do was maybe empowering her with options and knowledge. Try to contain her. By training the body I enhanced the mind.

Yeah, right.

The second time I lost myself to the Monstress inside was just a week later. I had decided to move outside my sanctuary. Big mistake. The family of 4 inside a remote summer lodge never new what hit them. I came to realize I had been lying to myself about wanting to bury the bodies in one piece. Being able to see what I had done afterwards was worse than seeing only bits of carnage. Their eyes a blank slate with horror etched into their faces. Bodies with chunks missing, but still intact enough to make out the horror I inflicted on them while feasting on them. Monstress seemed to have a desire to eat her prey. To lavish on flesh and muscle and remaining blood. My thread of humanity disallowed that notion. I had to remind her of what happened when she tried to force me to eat the animals after taking their blood. She finally relented.

I had destroyed a mother, father, child who looked around 10 or 11 and a teenager. The child was the hardest thing to come to grips with. Snapping their necks then draining the child and father leaving the mother and teenage boy to waste. You can only consume so much blood. I knew it wasn't a choice that was made consciously to drain the child, wrong place wrong time, at least that's what I tried to convince myself of. Monstress gave no input.

I screamed to the heavens. I was mortified. Horrified.

My Monstress wanted to roll in their elixir.

That time didn't leave me with much control over myself. The emotions ran the gambit. Arguing with my inner demon the whole while, I set out destroying the forest around me. It was the only time I truly wanted her out of me. Or to destroy her. I couldn't wrap my brain around what I had done.

That's when Nevell found me.

I can't imagine the thoughts that went through his head as he came upon me.

A woman covered in blood, barely clothed, seething and pacing with a shit storm of debris flying at my head, talking to herself.

He says he thought I was being attacked and his sole focus was on trying to save me. Little did he know, that shit storm was all my own.

I was aware of him before I saw him. I didn't know if I could fight him or if I wanted to lye at his feet and beg him to kill me for what I had done. I believe I did ask for a match. He couldn't get close to me. We stared at each other in the meadow I just created from my mind, me raving like a lunatic until he realized that I was a newborn from my ramblings, and talked me off the ledge.

He refused to give me matches.

He treated me with kit gloves trying to act submissive to the pacing lioness in front of him. It was intense. Eventually I came to the conclusion that he was not going to attack me, or give me matches and that I didn't want to die.

He led me to the stream near by and kept up his dialog while I cleaned myself up. I knew there was something different about him. Monstress watched him constantly. Never letting him out of our peripheral vision. He gave me a change of clothes he had in a bag on his back. I was grateful. He rambled for a day before I began to converse back with him.

We were wary of each other at first. I told him very little about myself. There really wasn't much to tell him anyway. But I had secrets I wasn't willing to share.

I revealed what I had woken up to, that I had no memories really of my human life. I told him very little about the flashes of memories, just places without faces, and let him believe that I didn't know how I came into this world. In actuality I really didn't. We struggled through those first few weeks, and even the following months. I became irrational at times and my moods were unpredictable making it hard for communication and trust. Being a newborn vampire ranks down there with the taste of sheep.

Nasty bitter bit of blood that. _Bleck_!

But I did hand it to Nevell he stuck with me. He told me years later that he wasn't even sure why he did it. There were lots of times that he wanted to leave my sorry emo ass and run as far as he could to get away from me. Yet there was something that held him in place. The mystery of my past, companionship and some unseen draw that was undeniable.

He encouraged my memories asking question after question. His incessant questions and curiosity jarred my mind. He gave me directions to focus on. Indirect directions. Memories began to sort in order of sequence. They also began to hold emotion with the pictures.

I still could not remember my name. The unknown god of a man turned out to be none other than Jasper. He was always in the forefront. Always with such an array of emotions. One and most dominate of which was possessiveness. First and most governing.

There had been so much pain laced with a lot of the pictures that were trying to create a story. Through the weeks I was alone I did start to remember other things. Other craziness. The snapshots that my Monstress held to me began to make more sense as I remembered names and places. Then names like, Charlie, Renee, then Edward made his way in slowly… followed by Alice. The rest of them were background noise for a bit.

From what I could tell him and what he could see in the following weeks, he finally put a name to my gift. I swear that the stars and moon aligned and all was right in my world at that moment. My first and most profound gift had a name and I could see straight and had hope for the first time since I woke up. He had been observing the environment around me closely, and how it related to me and my moods and thoughts. I had known there was a relation from my mind to the crap around me, but I had no control over it still. I thought I could control maybe the elements, the earth. When he told me I was telekinetic I didn't believe him. How did I have that as a gift when I thought about stuff hard enough I couldn't move a damn thing? But when I didn't think about it, it took off.

He was hunting with me about 2 months after we met; we came upon a cabin occupied through summer by vacationers. There are a lot of those in Canada. Once the occupant's blood hit my senses I was lost to the blood lust. He couldn't stop me. I tore through the house consuming the 3 occupants in a haze of blood and gore. Nevell had to take care of the other 2 himself.

With it came the inevitable aftermath and onslaught of more memories. Believe it or not this time it also came with more control. Control over my emotions, of my memories, my thirst and my gift.

It was short lived, however.

Nevell realized that it was the human blood. That human blood helped balance me. I had been to devastated to comprehend that the other times I took human lives. I had gone into newborn tantrums instead. With having Nevell to look upon the situation from another angle, it created another perspective and new insight.

I was appalled at first. I fought the idea of me having to take human lives for me to be able to sustain a semblance of sanity. I tried to go back to only animal blood, but I soon realized that being unstable was more detrimental to my environment and to humans that wondered to close than it was not to feed upon them more… civilly. I could go longer without feeding after human consumption, had control over myself and when I fed.

So… I went to a human diet consciously.

I could be more selective with my choices of which humans I preyed upon.

Aging also helped I'm sure. The volatile stages of being a newborn had begun to diminish slowly.

I came out of more musing as I took down a small buck pulling back the fur, sinking my teeth into the tender muscles of it's neck; I felt the heavenly human bloods' euphoria disappear along with the rich wildness of my prey. My Monstress growling in defiance at my actions. She loved hunting animals, playing with them, but when it came to consuming them she fought me sometimes. She wanted human blood and to eat the animals. Again I say _Bleck_! She thought it was a fare compromise for her not eating the humans.

Another reason I took my time to find prey. It helped satisfy her.

Finishing, I let the stag drop to the canopy floor. Leaving the leftovers brought in possible larger prey for next time. I set back on my haunches; lifted my head to the wind and took a huge drag of the scents that surrounded me. Earthy musk, fresh and clean. It grounded me and I let my senses flow out. Feeling the living creatures that resided near me, letting them become a part of me. I felt the earlier adrenaline slowly balancing itself.

"I'm not going to let you two go out anymore together if you can't keep Charlotte from coming back smelling like a cess pool every time."

"You know, Peter, your wife is very creative and more amazing than you. You're just jealous and you know it." I told him. He had been following for about 5 miles now. My 'senses' picked him up long before my enhanced hearing and acute sense of smell had. He stayed back until I finished the stag off, knowing no matter how much I loved the fool, a vampires instincts would have had me ripping his head off if he had gotten closer.

"That's beside the point." He huffed.

I got up and followed him to a nearby rocky ledge overlooking the valley. It was beautiful. The colors danced and swayed before us in a kaleidoscope of colossal wonderment. It was breathtaking untouched beauty.

We sat in silence for a while just enjoying the serenity and each other's company, our legs swinging over the ledge. Peter was the big brother I had always wanted. He was protective and fun and could call me on my bullshit like no one else. He had been instrumental in the planning of what was about to happen in a few hours.

"You're going to be fine. And so will he. You're both strong. He's been through a lot o'shit in this life and I think ya'll be surprised how easily this 'ill go for 'em, sugar," he paused, "I've known 'em since the moment I woke up in this world an I know 'em better than he knows 'emself. I know when it comes down to it, he's going to be confused at first but he'll know the truth with our emotions and it won't take long for 'em to be as pissed off as you are and on the same page. He also knows that I would never lie to 'em." His southern drawl was always a comfort to me.

It wasn't anything that we had not talked about before, but hearing it again reassured me. It soothed some of the anxiety. I knew having Peter there would soften the blow, whether he believed what was going on or was able to let the pieces be put together, Peter's presence would be trusted.

"What's going to happen between the two of you…" he chuckled, "he'll have no choice but to come around. "

"I'm not really worried about him," I heard him scoff, "Okay, so I am worried, but it's overshadowed right now by me trying to hold onto my control. I know I can't kill her yet. But when she sees me coming… his safety is more my concern. His defenses are going to be down. She'll know seeing me that her fate has changed in a huge way. She's going to be in survival mode."

My Monstress was fully alert again as Jasper was brought up. She was what I was concerned about most.

"_OUrrRSsss_," she whispered to me in my mind and flashed a picture of Jasper staring at us with the same possessiveness we carried for him.

"_You have to be good_," I told her, "_We need to be careful_." She snorted her cat like snort at me that sounded like a sneeze, and needed my brain with her claws. I flinched. I hated when she did that.

"_Beee gooood_," she whispered.

Peter eyed me, "What does she have to say about it?" he always seemed to know when she was alert and or talking to me.

"She's got her eye on our prize. As far as co-operating with the plan…" I tried to come up with a way to vocalize it; "I don't think she even knows what instincts will do to us when we see him. I think we're both holding our breath. We've waited so long, everything I feel from her is deep with anticipation, which just intensifies mine, but also I can feel her restraint. She doesn't want him hurt either and she trusts my instincts as I trust hers," I couldn't articulate it any better than that.

"I think I can understand." Peter said slowly.

Peter and I had talked about Monstress on numberless occasions. When I had initially spoke of her he was confused. He thought I had multi-personalities. I was shocked to learn he didn't have the same thing, neither did Charlotte. With Nevell it was different because of who he was, but with Peter and Charlotte, I figured they would have a similar voice. A similar monster. Isn't that what I was told after all? They didn't. So then I began to doubt myself as well. Was I crazy? What the hell was in my head? How the hell did she get there?

Peter and I discussed it. At length. I gave few details until she let me reveal more. Until she trusted him enough. According to Peter it's just me. He's never heard of such a thing. Yes, vampires have a monster, yes some even talk to their monsters, but they are apart of themselves, not something separate as mine seems to be.

Suddenly I got a full picture of a large cat stocking prey on a cliff in the mountains.

"_Not just cat_," she purred showing me a regular picture of a cat, "_larrrrge cat,_" As she showed me again another picture of a mountain cat. A very large mountain cat.

"_Is that you_?" I wondered at her.

"_YeSSsssss_" she whispered her purr as she lay back in slumber again. I was shocked. Although I got a sense of her; I could feel her claws and her fur sometimes as she rubbed against my inner skin, like she was right beneath the surface, I had never actually seen a true picture of her.

How she got into my head is anyone's guess. I have asked her plenty of times, the only thing she would reveal was a picture of myself at a young age playing in the woods similar to the ones in Forks. It seemed as if the picture was a memory she had of me. Which shocked me, but she would not reveal anything else.

At first Peter's revelation was a little un-nerving. But over time I realized I had grown used to her being there, a given, and it wasn't like I could get rid of her if I wanted to, which I did not. She was truly apart of me. We were part of each other.

Peter sighed dramatically, "Yeah, but it's going to work out," he pointed to his head, " I know it will."

I stood and bowed. "Oh mighty one before me, show me the way!" I bellowed and dodged his blow.

"Such a fucking smart ass." He scoffed, but there was no malice in his voice.

I sat back down next to him and leaned into him pulling in his smell.

"You should be more worried about a couple of the others if I were you," he murmured looking at his feet.

Squinting into the horizon I blew out a breath, "Yozza. They make me sick just thinking about all the shit they've pulled off. Masters of disguise they are. I can't wait to see how long it takes for them to fuck up."

"You don't think they'll blow it right away?"

"No, they've been at this too long, you know that. They'll want to see where it's going. Besides, having Alice completely blind will insure that they make no move to alert anyone. Besides the equipment we have in place. The only person we have to worry about it Edward. Him being able to read minds, he'll be the first to investigate. He won't say anything too drastic as long as ya all's brains don't give anything away, then when it's too late, we rush 'em."

"It _is_ a brilliant plan." The pride in his voice for himself made me roll my eyes and push him.

"You're so arrogant! How do you stand yourself inside your head? Is there even enough room for that ego?" I laughed when he pouted.

"When you're great you're given as much space as you need." He said sitting up straight and jutting out his chin.

I gave him a blank stare.

"What does that even mean, Peter?" I shook my head. "Does that mean you have air pockets?"

"It is lonely being Me." he sighed looking down at his feet again letting his shoulders sag, "No one can even come close to my genius, I could rule this world single handedly."

I laughed outright at that.

"Such a fucking liar! I'm telling Char!"

"NO! WAIT! I mean she and I … she and I could rule the world… you know that's what I meant!"

I was already on my feet running for camp with him hot on my heels. Screaming he was misunderstood. I merely laughed. Peter was always leaving out Char when he said shit like that and it urked her to no end. She had to pick up his mess more often than not and it drove her crazy with his excuse that evil geniuses didn't have to clean up after themselves, they had minions for that. He never learned. He always told her that excluded her, but then she was left holding the bag. It pissed her off.

As we came into camp we went our separate ways to get ready. Putting on the gear with a practiced hand the adrenaline started flowing through me. Monstress was fully awake and aware, looking out through my eyes. I swallowed back the venom in my mouth. I was at peak and my senses were flying. I had to get a grip on myself.

Double-checking my gear and making sure I wore my talisman, I paced the floor, going through the plan again and again. Letting my mind wonder to all the memories I had of Jasper come to the forefront. There weren't many per say, but enough to get my blood flowing and my body tingly. I braided and re-braided my hair letting myself center and concentrate.

Dawn was only a few short hours away now. It was time to go. If I had a heart to beat it would have been pounding. I had waited for so long for this.

The rest of them met me in the main house. Peter handed me my bag of blood as they headed out to leave me to it. I had decided that being prepared for the worst was better than to walk in with any weakness at all. I needed the extra depth to my senses. It would make me have to keep focused and on task. I had additional control with more human blood. I was further attuned with my senses to the point they almost overtook me. I knew my eyes would be a swirl of both gold and red. Taking in the animal blood only herbivores turned my eyes dark yellow-gold like cat eyes, and the human blood would fleck them with streaks of red gold. With a close look you would see my diet choice. At least part of it. I did not care what the Cullens thought. I didn't actually care what anyone thought of it. Only my mate, even then, I really did not have a choice when it came down to it.

I drank down the blood with a moan, soon joining the others. My Monstress, up in her crouch peering through my eyes, laid in wait for what was ours. Her purring rumbles nearly shaking me with its timber.

We all took off into the trees.

Keeping track of the Cullen's had been easy as blinking. They were predictable. On top of the fact that the guy who supplied Jasper with new identities and such was the same man whom Nevell used. Some co-operation on the sources part and we were set; standing on the sidelines preparing, compounding Intel, getting our ducks in a row, and waiting for the opportunity to pounce. This was delicate and timing was everything. If we would have moved too soon for extraction, unforeseen forces would have been at play and things could go wrong very quickly. Alice was one of those unseen forces. She was unpredictable. Her 'sight' was troublesome, yes, but we had taken care of that. Actually, Jacob had taken care of that for all of us. But if she were paying too close attention, she would see the black holes that were about to descend, and _that_ could cause trouble.

In the beginning when I first got glimpses of Alice, I was confused and then as more memories came instead of less confusion I was thrown into more confliction. Things didn't add up. Monstress showed me the same way she had shown me with Jasper, flashing pictures of snapshots in time. Alice wasn't all she pretended to be. She was more. Not in the sense she was more than a vampire, but she was more than the friend, sister, daughter and trusted wife of one said 'God of War".

I let Nevell into my inner musings little by little; he only confirmed the confusing events that led me to the future I was in.

Too many things had loose ties; too many players on the field.

Slowly but surely we put the puzzle pieces together. Nevell new Peter and Charlotte from travels abroad and we had set out to find them. After two years of digging and looking under rocks we found them in Wyoming. Well, as I said before, they found us.

The fast friendship that I developed with them helped with my being comfortable enough to relay what I remembered. They were easy to get along with. Who couldn't fall in love with fucking Peter? Peter was Peter, trouble from the gates. Charlotte's quick wit and soon found mutual attraction to getting into trouble had us becoming quick sisters. By then I had full control over my gifts and Charlotte was always encouraging me to push my boundaries especially when it came to playing pranks on Peter.

Nevell told them what he knew of Alice as well. He'd known of her for a lot longer than she claimed to have memories for. I found it all too convenient that she told everyone she had no human memories and was changed around the same time she came forth to find Jasper. Telling it that way made so there were never any questions of her past.

How Edward played into it all was a mystery. Carlisle created him. Yet, he had 10 years of unaccounted time. Off playing god. His abilities to read minds would have eventually led him to find Alice out about her past she didn't speak of. That's if he didn't already know Alice to begin with. There was a question there as to which came first. Once Nevell recounted his tales, things started fitting into place. Theories were formed. Peter and Charlotte told us what they knew and the long road to where we are now began.

In the end it all made sense. There were only a couple of questions left. The rest we had put together.

And I was pissed.

**I'm working on the next chapter doing some finishing touches. Hope you liked this one.**

**Your first intro to Monstress. Hope you enjoyed. **

**Thanks again to everyone who responded to this story thus far!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all of your interest in this story. Thank you for the reviews. **

**Stephanie Myers owns it... I own my Monstress.**

**~Extraction~**

BPOV

Peter handed me a communication device as we took off.

Technology had come a long way over the years, I thought, as I put in the small device in my ear. Between Peter and our tech guys they created some pretty ingenious devices aiding the vampire world. At least the one we lived in.

Our adventures demanded creative ways to communicate when silence was of utmost importance. The receiver/ microphone was a tiny, flat, 3-centimeter metallic circle fitting right inside the my ear cavity with an extremely hard tiny wire looping down through the small piercing in my earlobe, clamping it in into place. To the outside world it looked like a funky earring. To a vampire, if they were paying attention, they would wonder how I got a hole in my skin, but no one ever guessed it was a communication device. No one other than me could hear the voice feeding information to me. Though, me talking to the air might look strange.

The plan was pretty simple really.

Cut all communication off. We couldn't let any of them contact their sources.

Herd them. Take them off guard, separate, contain, extract.

Get in. Get out.

Round up and take who we needed to headquarters. After we got Jasper up to date and on board with our future plans, give back means of communication and let them make contact with their counterparts. It would set the ball rolling for our next leg of this journey. It had been so long in coming, I needed to stay focused on one step at a time and the over-all goal to keep myself in check.

Making this all about Edward and Alice was our rouse for now.

Act as if we didn't see Carlisle as a threat, or someone for us to keep a hawk eye on. Carlisle was another problem for another day. First thing was first. monitoring his phone calls when communication was re-established, we could contain that situation separately while we dealt with Edward and Alice.

The hairy of it was having Nevell with us. It would be interesting to see Carlisle's reaction to him. Nevell never met Carlisle per say. But Carlisle knew _what_ Nevell was. Nevell knew _who_ Carlisle was. Carlisle's lies, fervor to experiment, and Nevell's existence, were directly intertwined.

Communication would be cut off to the Cullen's abode when we were about 20 miles from the Cullen estate. With no communication they couldn't tell anyone they were in trouble.

Six units were set around the perimeter on standby, waiting to commence behind us as back up and then as guards to those left behind. They'd come in after we restrained Edward and Alice.

Simple.

But there was always Alice. We were a little surprised she allowed them to move so close to what I can only imagine to be a black hole in her vision. My lot of talismans surrounded our headquarters along with the compound next to us. From what Victoria told us before her death, Alice had a few flaws in her visions. Jacob guaranteed those flaws could be taken advantage of when it came to me. So far it worked. We tested it a couple of times.

I reached up and touched my own talisman strung around my neck for the last 18 years. Even through my newborn years, it never came off. Survival instinct kept it in place.

The closer we came to the Cullen house the more affect we would have on Alice's visions. Eventually her visions would go black. Sucked into a black hole with no reprieve of coming out. No matter how much we didn't think where we were going at present time, it was unavoidable. A large black hole coming at you is kinda hard to miss, even if we merely passed over them, her sight would be hindered.

The evil genius of it; we picked a place in the US to do all our planning and strategy work. We pretended the Cullens were in Ohio at all times and were merely a development we were working on. We picked Ohio simply because they didn't have any known owned property there, never thinking of our plan in lines to where they truly were. We picked a time frame, years from now, to formulate and execute. The times would change, the places would change and we never made concrete plans.

Them moving right up the block from us, sorta speak, couldn't be more perfect. A little ahead of schedule, but we weren't waiting anymore.

There were only 6 of us who knew why we were going today where we were going. The recon unit teams thought we were doing a training exercise for something else entirely and weren't aware of the nature of the beast yet.

Were all our bases covered? We didn't know. How soon would Alice pick up on us? Didn't know that either.

Would they attack us? Hoped not. That would be worst-case scenario. We were prepared for it. Everything in me feared the outcome of what that fiasco would be like. What would Alice or Edward try to do to Jasper when they realized it was me? What lengths would they go to keep Jasper and I apart? What damage would we incur trying not to hurt him if we missed our marks? What extent was Edward willing to go to for Alice? What extent was Alice willing to go to?

They were loose cannons.

Carlisle and Esme were too passive to be believed to be a physical threat.

Emmett and Rosalie were a risk. We were positive they would try to protect their family. Back up could contain the four of them easily enough, however.

With Alice and Edward? There were too many unknowns. We didn't know the answers to our questions and no matter how hard we dug we came up dry on their relationship. They were good at what they did or there was something we were missing. No matter how many times we listened to their conversations, Edwards's ability to read Alice's mind thwarted our efforts in finding the right places to look for those secrets. The only thing we were positive about, their interaction was not one of physical contact. That one nugget of information that would make sense or lead us down the correct path, eluded us.

Mac began updating us as we traveled; speaking into our earpieces we all wore.

Mac was our 'eye in the sky'. Satellite imagery, LAN line, cell phone, finance and property tracker, eavesdropper, and all around information extraordinaire. That was our Mac.

Our headquarters were state of the art. We'd been watching the Cullens for 9 years. It took awhile to find the right trusted resources to get everything up, running, and ahead of the game. We thought we were doing ok, until we met Mac and Cheese.

Charlotte, Peter and I had been in Russia investigating and tracking leads when we ran into the two marvels. Devan and William were brothers on the run… literally… when we ran smack into them. Peter didn't know why but we needed to help them. His all knowing shit spoke to him.

So we did.

We took care of their would be executioners. Devan and William were Americans looking for clues and leads for their own reasons when they were captured and then tortured by the very people we were tracking. We were in the right place at the right time when they escaped their captors; helping to rid them of their assailants, made them loyal and fast allies to us. We had common denominators and began exchanging Intel.

Finding out what they could actually do, we put them to work 5 years ago. Anything the Cullen's had done since, we knew about. Phone calls, shopping, hunting habits, mating habits, (more than I wanted to know) spending habits, finance tracking, secret rendezvous. We listened to conversations inside and outside of their house when we were able to. Everything, anything and then some.

Devan liked to be called Mac for reasons I didn't know. I didn't ask.

William was a genius. Like, Einstein genius. He loved computers and knew his way around anything electrical and computerized better than anyone. He also had a secret love for ladies. Being a genius and secluded in his own head a lot however didn't help him in that department. He clams up. Gets all shy and nervous and shakes like a terrier wanting a bone. Unbeknown to Charlotte and I, Peter thought it would be fun to help him out by giving him one-liners to use. Of course it was a practical joke, which had turned violent on occasions. Anything you let Peter talk you into usually does. William used a couple of those one-liners on a few women and got slapped and one even tried to beat him up. One told him he was the cheesiest moron she had ever met.

And thus… He became our Cheese.

Mac and Cheese.

Cheese never allowed Peter to talk him into cheesy one-liners again; he did find his firecracker, however, Steffania, a couple of years ago. The French goddess was his equal in everyway. She rivaled his intellect, has a sharp quick wit and puts Peter in his place on a regular basis. She's the cracker to his cheese.

Throughout the places we ventured and battled, we've found an assortment of combatants who make up our compound. We're a pretty diverse bunch.

As we traveled the world looking for answers. The more we dug the deeper we got into a world none of us could fathom. It was mind blowing even for a vampire. We became connected to a world hidden away in the underground and belly of our own vampire society.

Mac voice informed us the Cullens hadn't moved yet. Our backups were surrounding the outer perimeters behind us waiting for our instructions.

At 20 miles to our mark, Mac let us know they disconnected communication. This would be the first part of our venture that would be about timing. We didn't feel we could get any closer without sending up flags. The risk out-weighed the consequences. We just made our first choice directly affecting them.

We only got another 5 miles before our ear buds went off.

"_4 on the move, 3 stationary in house. They split. 2 headed east, 2 west. Over_."

"Fuck!" we all exclaimed in unison. Monstress was front and center in my eyes, her attention sharp.

Oui.

"Can you see which group is which?" Peter asked.

"_No ground visual. Over._"

"Have 2 teams surround the house. Don't enter. Just keep watch. Over." Peter chirped.

Charlotte and Peter were looking at me, a question in both their eyes.

Choices. Fuck.

"_Last 3 moving now, straight for you_. _Over_" came Mac's voice before I could decide.

Both Peter and my face wore 'Oh, fuck can you believe this' scowls.' It was a given, in my mind, that one of the pairs to first leave was Jasper and Alice. The three coming for us would be easy to contain, but I wanted to chase the first runners.

Damn it.

"Have 2 units track the 3 heading South. Take them to camp and secure them in the bunkers. Over." Peter and I were on the same wave length.

"East." I chose.

He nodded and we took off, Nevell and I sprinting to the east.

I asked Mac, "Coordinates? Over."

"_About 6 miles now to the east, they seem to be zigzagging, hold on… by calculations at your current speed and their pattern you need to deviate your course 10 degrees southeast you'll run into them in 9 minutes. Over._"

"That's why I pay you big bucks, Mac, you're smarter than Cheese."

A quiet chuckle, "_was that flattery?_"

"Just don't tell Cheese I said that." I snickered.

"_It's our secret_."

In the background I could here Peter getting coordinates for his interception from Cheese. I picked up speed when I caught their scents as we hit one of their zigzags.

"_Nooot MMAaaattTE_." Monstress hissed. She tried to get me to turn around.

"_How do you know?_" I asked her.

"_Smeells wroonng_." As she gave me a leather and spice scent, which filled my head and made me a bit dizzy with want and need. "_Maaattte_".

Monstress growled and gave me a scent in my head that matched the one we were chasing "_Carrrlisllle_".

I raged as she took away the leather and spice, but it did help to clear my head a bit.

"_Scent sensory from memory? Yours or mine?" _silence_ "We'll have to talk about that later._" I told her dryly.

Monstress made no reply.

"_How did… where did you get that from_? _Is that…?"_

"_Memoorriiiees deeep._" She growled.

I growled back.

"_Fuck! We can't turn around! We'll lose them! __All__ of them. Deviating is not negotiable_!" feeling her anxiety on top of my own I almost turned around anyway. Damn it. We risked everything if we tried switching with one of the other teams now.

"_Youuuu chose."_ Monstress reminded in a snarl.

"_I didn't hear you speaking up!_" I griped back.

"_nnuuufffftttt_" she sneezed at me and was met with a feel of anger and frustration.

"_I know how you feel_." I murmured to her.

We both felt the ache as we continued on our path. The need to yowl in rage was so strong I clamped my lips together and bit them to stay shut. What she just made me smell confused me and set my pheromones into overdrive. I had questions now more than ever.

Had it been another thing I never acknowledged as human? Or just didn't remember? Something I didn't remember being aware of? I know humans have individual smells, but unless it's foul or overwhelming humans don't pay as much attention to what each other smell like, they mainly rely on sight. Maybe those smells were somewhere in my subconscious. Just like the snapshots. I had no time to contemplate it right now though.

Nevell was falling behind little by little but I didn't slow down. I couldn't, even though their cell phones were shut down they could pick up a LAN phone at any time and make one call. We should have shut all the phones damn it!

"Mac, shut the areas Landlines down." I ordered.

"_3 miles to target…Landlines down."_ Mac updated me_. "Change your line 5 degrees south to intersect_. _Over_"

"Copy, over." The ground flew under my feet in a blur. I sensed wildlife fleeing in chaos that was thunder in my ears. What hadn't left when Carlisle and Esme ran through, were in a hurry to do so now.

"How close are Peter and Charlotte? Over. "

…

"_7 miles to intersect. Over_"

"Tell Peter pick up the pace damn it! Over"

….

"_He says fuck you. His words not mine_. _Over_" Mac said.

I chuckled. Fucker better run faster!

"_The last 3 split again at your last stand still… they forked and one is running Southeast, 2 running southwest, units 3 and 4 split with them for interception. Over." _Mac updated_._

"Baby Jesus on toast!" I all but growled out as I heard Peter swear from his headset through the communication room at the same time. They all couldn't split up anymore.

"_Cell phones still down? Over_." I asked.

"_Yes. Over_." Mac's quick response garnered no alleviation from my nerves. I could detect a hint of exasperation in his voice. I couldn't help it. If any of them split again we would be in trouble. We would have to shut all cell phone service and Landlines down in Canada. That would bring attention to our area and us. Not good. I couldn't help but be paranoid.

I hit their scents again; I was almost on top of them. I could decipher each of their footfalls. I blinked switching to inferred and easily found my blue vampire targets through the trees.

Nevell was only fifty yards behind me.

As we broke through the trees it confirmed what Monstress told me, Carlisle and Esme, just clearing the field we were now sprinting across, heading back into the trees. Seeing them brought all kinds of feelings and emotions to the surface, I forced them down and pushed my legs to pump faster. I felt like I was flying.

I hit the other side of the field plunging into the undergrowth trying to think my way through this.

They didn't know it was me. I'm sure they knew someone was on their asses, but they couldn't possibly know who. I blinked again switching to normal vision.

"ESSME!" I yelled; taking a chance she maybe would recognize something in my voice. It was huskier now than when I was human, but who knows. Besides, knowing your being chased by someone who knows your name… who wouldn't give a slight hesitation? That would be all I needed.

And it worked. I saw Esme's form slow and start to turn, but Carlisle reached out and grabbed her making her face forward again. He glanced back quickly, turning back to run only to stop dead in his tracks. Esme ran a few more feet before getting yanked back by Carlisle's hold. Esme jerked her head to look at Carlisle, then at me.

Both their mouths popped open staring at me in open awe.

I came to a stop about 15 feet from them and stared back. I'm sure I was a sight. Dressed in tight black clothing to run in so I be less likely to snag my clothes, my once braided hair was coming out, the scars on my face… my being a vampire...

Now that I caught them, I didn't have anything to say, yet wanted to say so much. I wanted to scream, tie them up and run them back to their house to leave them, going after what I really wanted.

I remained silent.

"Bella?" they said in unison. A whisper taken away in the breeze.

"Uh, no. Call me Izzy. Or just B." Bella died a long time ago. No one called me that since I woke up. Nevell called my Izzy ironically until I could remember my name. He started out calling me Tizzy Izzy for my acts of craziness. He loved saying Izzy is having a tizzy, then it became just Izzy as my episodes wore down. Once I remembered my name, Izzy was more comfortable and it fit.

Carlisle's face scrunched and Esme looked as if she was about to burst into venom tears.

"But… you…-" Carlisle started and I cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you thought I was dead. If you want to get technical though, I am, my existence was just upgraded a little." I tried to laugh it off. Awkward much? I didn't want to go through this song and dance with them.

You're alive.

Yes.

How?

Long story.

Cry, cry, cry.

Oh, I'm so happy we found you.

You didn't find me I found you. Yeah, and really I've known where you were, actually, for the last 9 years. Oh, and thanks for leaving me, it took me awhile to realize it, but it was the best thing that could have happened given the circumstances.

Really? Wow! Why did you not come til' now?

Yadah yadah yadah.

Let's move on.

"I think we should go back. With everyone together I can tell you all at once," Liar, liar. I tried cutting to the chase. I really wanted to get back. Needed to go back.

Nevell approached then. Oh, no. More delays.

"Who… is that? … How… But… What's going on?" Carlisle finally managed. I think he was a little flustered. I wanted to laugh but did manage to keep my snicker to myself. Just barely.

"While I certainly would love to answer your questions, 'cause I'm sure you have a few, I think doing it only once would be beneficial." Come on, let's go. Follow us like good little sheep.

"Oh, Bella! I've missed you so much!" and Esme launched herself at me. I patted her on the back in what I hoped seemed a reassuring manner. I saw Carlisle over her shoulder still looking a little shell-shocked. He kept glancing at Nevell.

I'm sure Alice told them to run and for whatever reason he did thinking it was for their lives. You could see the wheels turning in that head of his trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Why Alice would think such a thing when it was just me. Throw Nevell in the mix and I can't imagine the chaos that was Carlisle's brain right about now.

Esme pulled back from me and held my face like a grandmother would do to a 3 year old.

"I can't believe you're here! You look so beautiful! When we found out…" she trailed off and her eyes fill up again. "How are you alive? She said… How—"

"I know," cutting her off, " it was probably a shock then, and I can't imagine what you must be thinking now." Was there sarcasm leaking out? I needed to try to pull that in a little. It wasn't her fault. "But like I said we can go back and I can explain everything to you." Just not right away, cause I have a date.

"_MmaaaAtttTTe! Yeeeesssssss_." Monstress growled and poked sharply at me with her claws.

Esme turned to Carlisle, who had since walked to us, and held his wife by her shoulders. Probably consoling her from my rudeness.

"Who is this with you, Bella?" Carlisle inquired now staring at Nevell.

"It's Izzy. And this is Nevell." I said shortly. I know vampires have better memories than that. Was he trying to delay? I slowly reached behind me circling my fingers gently around the Vampire bindings from my belt loop preparing to contain them.

"Izzy." Carlisle said slowly. "That will take some getting used to. And Nevell." He reached out his hand to shake Nevell's. Nevell accepted. I could imagine right about now Nevell had a few choice words for Carlisle himself. I could smell the blood from him biting his tongue to keep his mouth shut.

Carlisle chose to start in on his "Science-guy" routine.

"You're hand is warm! And you have a heartbeat, yet…. you're-" he hesitated.

"Yes." Nevell replied a little dryly, "We can talk as we run." Glancing at me from the corner of his eye. Way to distract and hold the carrot Nevell.

"Yes, of course." Carlisle readily agreed, appeasing him, I let go of the bindings.

We took off back the way we had come. Carlisle started in on Nevell asking questions. I tuned them out. Nevell played his part up for Carlisle. His answers short and clipped. All of this was just show on Carlisle's part I'm sure. It had to be a shock for him to see one of his creations in front of him. I was proud of Nevell for not ripping into Carlisle and calling 'bullshit'.

"_Peter caught his marks. Jasper and Alice. He's leading them back to camp. Over_." Mac whispered in my ear.

Monstress hissed and gave me a hard "_nnnuuuufffft" _sneeze to the brain as way to say what she thought about it. Jasper being in the vicinity of Alice didn't make either of us too happy, besides the fact we chose the wrong way. Her relief was mine as well knowing Jasper was safe and on his way. She wanted to detour our course, but I held firm.

"Good to know," I said. Carlisle and Esme gave me funny looks and I just shrugged. Maybe they would think I was crazy. Neither asked for me to elaborated on what I just blurted out into thin air. Carlisle and Nevell continued their conversation while Esme hadn't taken her eyes off me. I picked up the pace gradually and soon the conversation came to a stop as we dodged underbrush, branches and jumped over rocks speeding back to the Cullen's house.

I wanted to know what I was going to be walking into. Asking out loud would look strange and add to my oddness to Carlisle and Esme, but you must do what you must do. I sped up again getting in front of them a ways.

"Update." I whispered.

"_House secure. No activity... You guys look to be… 2.5 miles from Cullen's house. Units on standby for go. Peter coming in slow; current pace… ETA 7 hours from west side. Unit 6 in wait for interception and containment 15 miles out. Over."_ Macs reply made me dizzy with nerves and need. Monstress made herself settle down. We would have to wait for camp.

The others picked up their pace, but none seemed to make a move they heard me.

Oui.

"_Contained 2 in southeast, continued pursuit of single Southwest._" Oh, boy. That would be Edward. His Jedi mind reading would give him advantage, but my guys were good. "_Communication demanded from Peter by 2 contained in southeast. Situation calmer now. Took a bit of convincing with those not had to restrain. over" _I bet Rosalie in her snotty prime.

There didn't seem to be any hesitation anymore on Carlisle and Esme's part. They gave no indication of being uncomfortable with going back on the rouse to meet everyone else.

Getting to the house I spotted the other units in the trees. As we passed by them, they would follow us in. I could hear Mac giving them instructions as we came into the yard.

"Ok. Well, it was a nice reunion and all, but I have some business to attend. These nice people behind you will be your companions for the next few days." I said turning to Carlisle and Esme. As I spoke 6 guys in camo jumped into the yard surrounding us.

"What is the meaning… what the hell is going on?" Carlisle demanded. He wrapped his arms around Esme in protection and glared at me and the guys now surrounding us.

"All in due time, Carlisle, right now all you need to know is that Alice and Edward have played us all for fools, Nevell and I need to help contain them. We'll have to explain later, as we are needed elsewhere, you will be safer here until we can get back. I do applogize for leaving you like this. I'll be in touch as soon as I can to let you know what's going on. I promise." With that, Nevell and I took off as our forces took our now crazed prisoners into the house. I suppose I didn't explain and make them very comfortable, but I did tell them it was about Alice and Edward. Give me at least a little credit.

"Who… what the hell are _you_ guys?" was the last thing I heard Carlisle exclaim as I dove into the tree line headed back to base.

It took us 6.5 hrs to get up here. Straight line, no stops, at vampire speed. Going back would take around 5.5. It would leave Nevell a bit behind, but he would understand, I couldn't keep his pace if my life depended on it.

"_I've got the chopper waiting for you 2 miles from your location now. Stay on course_. _Over_" As Mac said the words I could hear the chopper setting down.

Did he read my mind?

"Perfect, you think of everything!" I exclaimed.

"_Sending chopper to 2 southeast apprehensions. Closing on single runner in Southwest as we speak._ _Transport on way to rendezvous with them_. _Letting Peter and company foot it in_, _one unit with them at a distance for back up._ _Over_" Good. If we tried to pick Jasper up it would more than likely turn ugly, sending warning bells off to Alice and confuse Jasper even more.

"Copy. Good work. Over."

I slowed to let Nevell catch up to me and we both boarded the chopper putting headgear on as it lifted in the air and headed home.

This would mean I would have to spend some time with Emmett and Rosalie before anyone else made it back. Although our plans had been scrambled, everything was falling into place. This would work out.

We got back to camp and Nevell went to wait for Edward's arrival. He would contain him until we were ready for him. I went to ready myself for Emmett and Rosalie. Having them all run made for compromises to be made. On the way here I talked to Mac about getting a place ready for them. I was going to put them in the heart of the other compound. There was plenty of room and more available to occupy them while we moved our next pieces into place.

Bringing them here meant I would have to explain a few things about our camp. It couldn't be helped and they would have questions. They could get some of the answers now. The chopper ride took no time at all. It would help to be busy while Jasper and the others footed it in.

Changing into regular clothes and freshening up before heading over I met the group who would have Emmett and Rosalie under lock down. Giving them some guidelines for our visitors as I checked what would be their accommodations trying to think of anything else they would need or want. We didn't feel Emmett and Rosalie would be much of a threat and I didn't want them to feel like complete prisoners. Giving them a little reign might ease their minds somewhat. It would also give both something to do while they waited if we let them wonder a little.

Soon we heard the chopper coming in and went to meet it.

I kept my earpiece in to know what was going on with the others and their ETA's. Edward was contained now and they were heading back. They should be here in a couple of hours having run most of the way back towards camp helped.

Coming up on the group, on the path back to camp from the landing pad, I was met with a very pissed off Rosalie and an almost violent Emmett. They were arguing and demanding answers.

Stepping out from behind trees I made myself known to them, "Welcome to camp."

Both of them snapped their heads in my direction to start to yell, scream, ask questions, I assumed, but once they saw me both their mouths stayed open, neither spoke as they got a look at me. Not only had I been turned into a vampire, I was older physically since they last saw me. I hadn't been changed until right after I turned 21. I was different. More matured. More defined even before the transformation. I was taller. No longer that little girl they used to know. My posture no longer slumped in submission, I stood tall and ramrod straight. I know I oozed confidence and defiance. Not to mention the scars on my body the few times we did battle with various beings around the world provided me, I looked more like a warrior I was meant to be. My new outfit showed off those scars many vampires tried to hide. I didn't have as many as Peter and Charlotte had, but they were very visible and intimidating.

They both stared. I merely waited. Keeping a neutral expression on my face I perfected. I gave nothing away.

Rosalie was the first to speak.

"Holy fucking shit! Who the fuck did you talk into turning you? What the hell it going on! No one will answer us! What is this place, where the fuck are we? How the hell…."

"I'll answer your questions, Rosalie, but for right now why don't I take you guys somewhere we can talk more comfortably first." I motioned behind me. "I know you're both confused, but as long as you don't run or try to attack anyone you're safe here."

"Bella? What…? I mean… we thought you were dead!" Emmett exclaimed and came running at me with a huge smile on his face. The men surrounding us started to step forward and I caught some of their eyes and minutely shook my head. Emmett grabbed me lifting me off the ground in a hug, "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but how the hell? What… I don't even know what to ask first! You're Alive!"

I laughed at his exuberance hugging him back. I was happy to see him. "Well, technically I am dead, but no, my existence is very much alive and well, I assure you."

He set me down and looked at me in awe.

"Holy shit, Bella!"

"By the way Emmett, it's Izzy or you can call me B, but the Bella part of me is long gone," I softly told him with small smile on my face to let him know it was ok.

"B." he tasted it out and nodded his head, "Ok. I think I can do that." he pronounced jovially.

"Who the hell do you think you are _Bella_? You can't kidnap us like this-" Rosalie sneered my name with the contention she was known for.

"_Rosi_e, there are a lot of things you guys need to be made aware of. As for the kidnapping that wouldn't have happened if you guys wouldn't have ran." I shrugged a shoulder.

"My name is not Rosie it's Rosalie and Rose to my friends and you are not my friend. And we ran because Alice said we were all going to die. All our futures went back. So fuck you!"

"I'm not going to argue about names with you Rosalie. If you address me other than the choices I gave you, I will ignore you. I know what Alice told you, but that doesn't change anything for the here and now. You are safe trust me. Come let's get you settled. No one is dying today or in the near future, unless you provoke someone into it. Follow me."

I turned without waiting her snotty reply I saw coming and took off. They followed with their new 'friends' that would be keeping them company for a while.

As we got to their new room I went straight to the living area, stopping I turned to them and swept my arm out in indication of the room and quarters, "This bungalow, tree house, whatever you would like to call it will be yours for the time you stay here. Please make yourselves at home. There will be guards outside for now, if you need anything at all just let them know. This is one of the few tree houses that actually have modern conveniences, such as electricity. Please, let's sit so I can answer some questions for you."

"Fucking cool. What is this place?" Emmett said as he looked around the place. "You live in a tree house? How fucking cool is that? I want one!" I smiled at his enthusiasm.

Rosalie gave him a death glare but didn't remark. She turned to me and intensified her glaring stance.

"Start explaining." Rose snipped, as they both sat in the plush loveseat near the windows.

I sighed sinking into a chair opposite of them. All I wanted to do was take off running into the woods in the direction I knew Jasper would be coming in. I didn't want to put up with Rosalie's attitude. It was old already, even though I understood it, I wasn't about to take much more shit from her. I could stay calm for a bit more. Monstress was being patient and that helped me to focus on what was in front of me.

"Look, I'm sorry this went the way it did, please understand, if it could have gone differently, we would have executed this another way. It was inevitable however. We had a feeling Alice would freak out once her vision went black and you all may run. We were hoping it wouldn't come to that, but…" I let the statement hang. "As for everyone else, they're being brought here as we speak with the exception of Carlisle and Esme. I caught up to them and we left them at you all's house, safe and sound. Everyone so far is safe. It's not our intention to harm either one of you."

"Why. The. Fuck. Are. We. Here?" Rosalie asked as if I was two.

"Rose, calm down. Let her talk." Emmett put his arm around Rosalie's shoulders and drew her to him.

"B, we're a little freaked out right now. We just got to our new house, getting settled. Next thing we know Alice starts screaming for everyone to run. Rosalie and I thought about not running and staying to fight. Edward stayed with us explaining what Alice had seen so we took off too, next thing we know… we're being surrounded and told Peter and Charlotte are looking for us. They put us in a helicopter and bring us here. No Peter and Charlotte but we're reunited with my dead sister turned vampire. We're a little confused." Emmett explained. I think that's the most I've ever heard him say at once.

I smiled at Emmett. "Peter and Charlotte will be here soon., I know you talked to them earlier. You're here because we've all been lied to. I won't go into great detail because it would take too long. Let me ask you both this." Making eye contact with both of them, "What do you know about Alice and Edward?"

…

…

Emmett scrunched his brows together trying to figure out where I was going with this.

Rosalie scowled at me "What difference does that make."

"Let me tell you some of what I know." I watched them closely for their reactions, "Alice is around 450 years old." Both gasped and looked at me as if I had two heads… nope that was a three-headed look if I ever saw one. I held my hand up as Rosalie and Emmett both opened their mouths to speak. "We know this as a fact. We've done extensive research on this very thing. We traveled across the globe digging into her past and chasing down leads. We have records to prove it. Alice is not who she pretends to be."

"How is that even possible? She didn't wake out of that asylum until…" Emmett began and stopped himself. Thinking. "But that would mean…" he made a strangled noise. " But when we killed James he said that stuff on that tape. She went looking for her past. Are you sure?" his eyebrows were drawn together and stared at the floor as if it would give him answers to the universe.

"Positive."

"You're lying." Rose said matter-a-factly and crossed her arms over her chest with a humph. As if she figured it all out.

"I'm not, actually. There're a lot of things you two have been lied to about. All of us were lied to about. When we go into talk to Alice I'll let you in on the initial interrogation. Maybe that will ease your fears a little, help you understand. There is a room off to the side with a two way mirror… you can draw your own conclusions from what you see and hear."

They were both quiet for the first time.

"Holy shit." Emmett sat forward putting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his face. "What else is there? Is that the only thing? Is there more? Just because she lied about her age doesn't mean anything."

"What do you guys know about Edward?" I asked them.

"What are you going to tell us? He's older too? What about me? Huh, what kind of shit are you feeding us? Who cares how OLD they are. Why are we-" Rosalie tried going off again.

"No. As far as I know you guys are who you say you are. There are those around you who are not. Have either one of you ever discussed at any length what Edward did in the 10 or so years he disappeared away from Carlisle?" I avoided and asked my own questions. I thought it would be better if they heard and saw Alice's reactions the first time they heard the answers to their questions. At least this would start the ball rolling in their heads.

They both thought about my question.

"He said he went to see what it was like to drink from humans. He wanted to see what it was like and see what he was missing." Emmett shrugged. "That's all I really know. He's never really elaborated too much on details. Why? What did he do?"

"We aren't sure. There are a few questions that need to be answered."

"He's your mate why don't you ask him?" Rosalie's snide comment did not go unnoticed by Monstress. She hissed and growled lowly at Rosalie.

I actually hissed at her. "Rosalie, he is NOT my mate. I would thank you kindly not to refer to him as such again. The fucking emotard never was and never will be any mate of mine!" I said through gritted teeth. Monstress stared through my eyes daring her to defy what I proclaimed. Monstress rising so quickly in me to add to the fervor of my statement my words came out clipped and growly. Whatever Rosalie saw as we stared at each other made her flinch and back down.

"No offense, but how is Edward not your mate?" Emmett all but whispered. As if asking would end his life. I tried to calm us and remind us it wasn't them I was furious at.

"I have a mate. It's just not him."

"But—" Emmett started.

"No." I said flatly, ending it there. Mate talk was a little too close for comfort at the moment. My body was strung like a bowstring ready to be released. I didn't want to talk about any of that.

"In the next couple of days you'll get to see for yourselves some of what's been going on. I'll make sure you get to hear some of it first hand. That's if you didn't know already or suspect it. I'm giving the two of you the benefit of the doubt here. If there is anything you would like to tell me in the next couple of days, feel free to find me and tell me. All you have to do is tell one of the guards you'd like to speak to me and you'll be brought to me or I'll come to you. Let me make it perfectly clear; Knowing and telling me now, will make it so much easier on both of you, but I guarantee if I find out you had any part of the shenanigans of said Cullens, there will be hell to pay."

Emmett looked at me with his brows drawn together as his face took on a sad look. Rosalie merely glared.

"_Single male is being brought in now. Which facility do you want him in? Over_" Mac's voice interrupted our talk.

"Put him in containment unit C." I said looking the window. That unit was far enough away from the others he wouldn't be able to hear anything, "Take Jasper to the control room quarters, and Alice to confinement A."

"What the—" both Emmett and Rosalie started in unison.

I held my finger up to cutting them off and pointed to my ear. Emmett got a funny look on his face but shut up. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"_Uh… You want Jasper in your quarters? Is that what I got from that? Over_." Mac confirmed. I didn't say my quarters out loud because I didn't want to raise unnecessary questions. Mac was smart enough to pick up on it.

"Yes, have Peter take them around far enough so Edward won't mistakenly catch anything from them when they arrive. What's their ETA?"

"_ETA 2 hours_. _over_"

"Has it been established whether or not Edward can hear his companion's thoughts?"

"_Reports indicate he can not. He is not happy. Transport had to restrain him. Over_" Mac snickered.

I snickered too, "I bet he's not. That's really good information. Still, put him in unit C. Put guards he can't acquire knowledge from outside his room." I guess Edward out maneuvered my guys without his gift. Good to know.

"_Copy, over_."

Turning back to Emmett and Rosalie I told them, "As you may have caught on, Edward, Alice and Jasper were caught up to and are being brought here as well."

"Why are you containing all of them? And who is it Edward can't hear? Who were you talking to?"

"Well, Alice should be a given as to why she's being contained, she's been very naughty," understatement of the year, "Edward has some answering of his own to do. I don't want Jasper hurting himself trying to protect Alice. I was talking to the guy in my ear." I ignored the other question completely.

"_nnufffft_" Monstress snorted at me in a scoffing condescending sort of way at my verbiage about Jasper. I didn't reply to her. I wanted to make the same noise and she knew it.

Monstress was up and at it again hearing Jasper was so close to us.

"_Soon, I promise_."

"_OoouuuuRRrrrssss_" Monstress panted her purr to me. I wanted to join her.

Taking a deep breath I tried to center myself.

"The guy in your ear? What the hell are you talking about?" Rosalie said.

I turned slightly so they could see my ear better.

"Is that? Is that a piercing in your ear?" Rosalie asked in shock as she leaned forward to look. See I told you vampires would notice it was actually pierced. It wasn't my only one either.

"Yes. Like I said before, we've traveled around the world. We've met a lot of people, swapped Intel and information. Peter is… what is the word? Inventor is a good word to go with. He came up with a way to pierce our skin." I laughed at the looks they gave me. That got Rosalie's postive attention.

"I want a piercing! That is so fucking cool!" They both looked giddy as Emmett pronounced first he wanted a hole put in him.

"I'm sure if you ask him he would be more than happy. I need to go for now. This treetop is fully stocked with video games, magazines, I think there's some games around here somewhere, make yourselves at home. There's a training pit not too far from here I told the guys that'll be staying with you that both of you are welcome to spar if you want to. I don't know when I'll be back around. Peter and Charlotte should be here soon. I'll make sure however you can attend Alice's interrogation when we start." I let them know as I stood to leave. I was tired of sitting stationary and Monstress wanted to pace. Edward was being contained and might simmer down if he knew there were people here he actually knew. Although... leaving him to stew all tied up might be funnier and more enjoyable.

"What? But you haven't even answered any of our questions! Who are these people around here anyway? Some of heartbeats some have…" Emmett started protesting as he and Rosalie stood.

"Ask them, there are no secrets here about who they are. Who any of us are. If they don't want to tell you then they'll let you know it." Smiling at them I took off.

Och.

**That should answer some questions, and raise a lot more. This story has a couple of stories within it. I've tried not to confuse you too much. If you get lost**

**or have a question I will try to answer and give you an explanation that doesn't give everything away or help you understand what's going on. **

**Jasper is coming soon! Next chapter I think. Monstress is getting impatient I believe. I have to listen to her.**

**See you about a week from now!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyones interest in this story. I'm having fun writing it. **

**I don't own in Stephanie Meyers does... I just own this one. **

~_oooOOOrrrRrRRrRSSssSSss_~

IzzyPOV

When we first found this canyon we thought we couldn't have gotten luckier. The canyon valley stretches 7 miles wide forming a semi circle around us. Peter, Charlotte, Nevell and my camp sit up against the right side. 3 miles separates our camp and the sentinel camp, housing military and any guests. The sentinel camp is at least 3 times as large as ours and holds more modern day conveniences.

While exploring and building our fortresses, Charlotte found our true treasure. At least it turned into it. To the north above our camps hidden by trees is an old cave entrance into the mountain. The cave is shallow going back about a mile. Until we got a hold of it.

After discussing it at length, we decided instead of digging further into the mountain we would dig down. A half mile straight down, underneath the surface of the cave floor, starts a four level system of mazes and rooms one on top of the next. Scattering out from those four floors are 7 main tunnels, spreading like fingers traveling underneath both camps to varying places.

One of those tunnels leads to the landing pad; another to the sentinel camp, another to our camp and so on.

Vampire hearing is an issue, obviously. The stone makes it difficult to hear from one level to the next, but not impossible. Placing our interrogation rooms away from each other underground took care of that easily. Their locations spread sporadically throughout the tunnel system allowing those rooms the isolation required.

On the third floor of the main build is a basketball court size room that acts as Command Central.

The second floor holds communication rooms. That's where Mac and Cheese reside. There are 7 people total that take shifts staying in contact with different squads doing investigation work, extractions, and negotiations, keeping Charlotte, Peter, Nevell and I in the know, then delegating clean up teams or back-up as needed.

Fourth floor holds a maze of tunnels and large rooms designed for training.

First floor holds the blood and food banks for residents and guests.

The miles of tunnels connecting the underground 'city', as I like to call it, join each other in a labyrinth maze. Under the sentinel fortress there is another web of rooms dug out of the rock to house more sentry or guests. We have never filled all the rooms at once, but Peter felt we might need them someday. 90% of them sit empty waiting. The sentries here on hand now, are mostly residents living in the tree houses above ground. Few of them occupy the underground city.

The system is in constant build. When you don't sleep there's a lot of empty time to fill. It was an easy process when it came down to it. None of us require too many tools to widdle our way through the rock, reinforcing tunnels and rooms as we go. The most sensitive rooms or tunnels require airlock doors. Those are the most time consuming. Non-sensitive rooms that are occupied have regular doors the occupants put up themselves.

There is a huge map of the 'city' and common areas on the first floor in the blood room. It's color coated and shows progress in the tunnels, where it's safe or ok to dig. Sensitive areas aren't on the map, but most everyone knows where they are if they've actually been exploring. The sensitive rooms are all air locked and accesses to those are limited; they show up blackened with the rest of the places too volatile to dig.

Those who work on it update progress of the underground maze constantly, as it changes with frequency.

Edward was put in Unit C, which resides underground about a mile and a half, south of the sentinel camp.

Taking the south entrance to the tunnels, I dropped down the 30-foot shaft and made my way down the incline deeper into the belly of rock. I could hear voices in the distance, as I slowly walked, not in a hurry in the least for this confrontation right now.

I wondered for the thousandth time why Edward chose to defect to Alice's Line. From what we could gather Carlisle wasn't aware Edward was betraying him or even who Alice really was. How else would Mary-Alice Bysshop, Mistress of the South, be able to hide right under all their noses, if not for Edward helping keep her secrets and doing some of her dirty laundry? Edward would have to know that Alice isn't who she says she is.

If Eleazar ever finds out the Mistress of the South was none other than Alice, hiding out in his Line under his nose, he will kill them all. Betrayal and mutiny is one of the worst things you could do in the vampire world. It's an instant death sentence.

Carlisle's coven would all die. How could Carlisle and the rest not know who Alice is? Eleazar would protect his Line. No matter if he liked Carlisle or not, he had hundreds that looked to him for protection. If he didn't deal with Mary-Alice and those around her instantly he would be considered weak and not the powerful protector he was suppose to be. He would have a huge problem on his hands. He had his whole Line to consider, Carlisle and his coven wouldn't be a second thought in his mind.

Eleazar wouldn't stop with Carlisle's little coven, either. He would take out Mary-Alice's whole Line as well. Mary-Alice had sired Maria, so anyone that Maria had sired and on down the line, would die as well. Jasper, Peter, Charlotte and me by default for being Jasper's true mate. We were all canon fodder that could come back to retaliate against him. He wouldn't take that chance. We would all die.

If Eleazar killed Mary-Alice, her sire would get the Vulturi to back her in retaliation. Two of the largest powerhouses in the vampire Lines were always looking for a chance to off each other. This would give the Vulturi the excuse and opportunity to try to take out Eleazar. It would be ugly and hundreds would die, if not thousands.

Even if Eleazar never found out, there was me being alive. When they found out that Laurent died trying to kill me, not only me, but the wolves would die as well. Irina, being a Second in Eleazar's Line and once mate to Laurent, would come after both of us. The same result would happen, just in a different way.

Oui.

Could it be a power trip for Edward? He didn't seem the type, but I've been wrong a lot.

Charlotte's theory of him being promised his own Line was good, but there were holes in it. He could get that now, if he wanted. All he would need to do is sanction Carlisle. Although, that still left him under Eleazar. Eleazar didn't let just anyone have his or her own Lines without proving themselves first capable of containing and running it. Only old vampires had enough control and earned respect to truly hold their own Lines successfully. Eleazar took that decision very seriously. That's why his Line was so strong.

I just couldn't see Edward as a power tripper. If he were; wouldn't he have already started a new Line of his own under Carlisle? As far as we knew there was no such thing, unless someone was running his Line for him with no contact from him whatsoever.

No… there had to be another reason.

Something just wasn't right.

Eleazar was very old and powerful himself. His Line was quite extensive and one of the 8 most powerful in Vampire Hierarchy. To take him out would be virtually impossible… or was it?

Round and round in circles I go.

As I came around the corner slowly, the sentry were laughing and joking, mingling around the tunnel outside Edward's door. Rehashing recent events and noting what was happening in our world in general.

I knew they would have chained Edward to the wall by now, I just wondered if they were able to take him out of his restraints.

Nevell was amongst the men as I came through the last airlock door and he came to greet me.

I gave him a warm smile in thanks for overseeing Edwards's containment.

"He's not happy. It took 3 of them to get him restrained to the wall and get his restraints off. He took off Randal's arm at the elbow; it's going to take awhile to grow back. He either doesn't make acknowledgement to being able to read our minds or he's not responding to it. Other than that he's just been screaming obscenities, making threats and demands." Nevell snickered at the last part. I smiled as I heard Edward demanding to be released from beyond the door.

"How's Randal holding up?" I asked.

"They took him to the infirmary. He's in a bit of pain, from what I understand it bloody hurts like a bitch when shit grows back. He'll be out for at least 3 days. Some of the guys went to get him some grub to help the re-growth along. He'll be all right. Pissed off more than anything."

"So Edward can't hear any of them, what about you?"

"He didn't react to anything I thought at him while he was coming in. I stood back out of the way for the first bit, didn't let him know I was different from the guys carrying him. Then after we secured him to the room I stayed in there for a few minutes, but he still didn't react to the pictures in my head of you or what I thought at him." He shrugged his shoulders, "but he's pretty riled up, might not mean anything."

"Ok, you heard the conversation about Charlotte and them coming in?"

"Yeah, it's what about an hour and a half or so til' they get here? I was going to go help secure Alice or do you want me come in with you?"

"Why don't you come in with me. I want to make sure he can't read you and it'll put someone in there to protect him."

He laughed. "Yeah, ok. Don't kick my arse too hard when I try to stop you. I won't be trying too hard."

"I'll try my best. But I make no promises." I gave him a toothy grin.

We walked through the guys milling around, making a few jabs, commentary and thanking them before I put my hand on the security panel on the wall. The airlock door slid open smoothly and we both entered.

Edward was on the North wall to the left of us as we entered. I had heard him from outside the room screaming about this and that making demands but when the door slid open and he saw me, he shut up mid rant, mouth gaping.

To the right of us was a two-way mirror that accommodated every interrogation room; a table sat on the far wall with various tools of torture looking wicked and tempting. I walked over and leaned my back against the mirror so I was facing him and put my hands on the window sill behind me, my foot propped under me on the cave wall, looking as casual and non-threatening as I could.

Nevell occupied the far right corner of the room with his arms crossed on his chest feet shoulder width apart.

"What? Bella? But… your dead!" Edward spluttered. And then made a strangled noise. Seems to be everyone's reaction to me. I gave a low rumble of laughter.

"Jeez. Is that the first thing everyone notices? Really? What gives me away? The pale skin? The hard body? The scars? I'm taller? My sharp teeth? My eye color? You can tell me. It's the skin, isn't it?"

"You… She told me you were dead! Bella, you're alive! How can that be?" He spluttered incredulously.

"Well, since I've been over this a couple of times now I'll save you some air. I'm dead. Yes, I'm a vampire. No, you may not call me Bella, it's either Izzy or B. Yes, we have all the Cullen's, Whitlock's, Hale's, Brandon's and McCarty's here and accounted for. No, you may not speak to them. No, you are not getting out of your restraints or this room any time soon. Yes, you are in big trouble. Did I miss anything?" I looked over to Nevell and he shook his head holding in his laughter.

"How are you alive? Alice saw you die! I saw it! You jumped off a cliff and she hasn't been able to see you since. Your future was completely black! I saw your grave! Your dad told me you died!"

"Well, it seems that Alice lied to you. Imagine the surprise there. My father is a good liar too, isn't he? He's such a tease, I've been telling him that for years. That's part of what made him a good cop." My nonchalant attitude over it was the opposite of what I was feeling on the inside. I wanted to rip into Edward with both fists. Maybe take up some of those 'tools' from that table and play baseball with his nuts. I wanted to scream at him for answers. I pushed it down. On the outside I held as neutral a face as I could. Doing any of that would prove futile at this point.

"But alas, Jacob saved me and the wolves took care of Victoria. She and her entourage did do damage. In the end," I laughed, "you should have seen her, she was all about giving you and Alice up to save her own ass. She was quite talkative. The wolves saved her for last. It wasn't pretty." I shuddered in mock horror.

"That's what happened to Victoria?" He said scrunching his brow. "Alice couldn't tell, she kept coming in and out of visions and then they just went…" he babbled. His head snapped up, "You have to believe I wasn't a part of her coming to kill you Bella!"

"Why should I believe you? You didn't give a rats' ass about what happened to me. You left me in the fucking woods as vampire bate; I got the message loud and fucking clear. You got tired of playing with me; did I become too big of a risk when Jasper smelled my blood? Time to get rid of the poor Bella? Play times over? You were both too much of a pussy to do it yourselves. Or was it a game? Did you get off on it? Why else would you leave me there to die?"

"It wasn't like that! I cared about you, Bella. I still do. I... fuck! I didn't want to leave, but Alice said she was going to kill you! I had to do something!" His pleading whine made me want to spit on him.

"So you thought it was smarter to leave me in the woods unprotected than to what? Tell Jasper and I the truth? That makes sense."

His face showed shock before he quickly covered it up.

"You know?" he whispered.

I didn't answer. Of course I fucking know. Fucking moron. I didn't then, but I sure as hell know now.

"Jasper had already left and wasn't answering his phone." His voice still a pleading whine." I couldn't have fought Alice and won. She had proven that more than once." Anger seeped into his then, "The only way I could protect you was to convince Alice to just leave. We would break all ties from you and that would be the end of it."

"But she didn't did she Edward? You guys decided to kill me; so not only did you try to kill me but also the wolves. That's great. You guys knew all along before the night of my birthday I was Jasper's mate. You had to kill me before Jasper figured it out. You let him believe that he attacked me to drain me."

"What? NO. I know you won't believe me, but I _didn't_ know! Alice told me that you were my mate. She saw you becoming one of us. I thought it must be true because not only were you my singer, I couldn't read your mind. It was like you were made for me." He pleaded.

Monstress didn't like that statement and growled low staring at Edward pushing a picture of a dead possum torn apart and mangled…half eaten. I almost lost my pose. I hated when she showed me shit like that.

It was another one of those things she did from time to time. Show me pictures of things that I could never possibly have seen before. I knew asking questions wouldn't get me anywhere.

If it were up to her, we would make Edward look the same as the possum. It was her way of showing me what she thought of him.

She sneezed into my brain agreeing.

"I didn't have the pull to you as mates do, but I thought it was because you were human! I didn't even know she was planning on killing you," Edward had still been talking and I scoffed at him when I heard that.

He shook his head. "I was in South America at the time! I wanted to tell Jasper, but she kept threatening if I did, you would pay the price. So I left to deal with the guilt and losing you. Jasper had taken off. I didn't even know where he was." he struggled for air, "I would have tried to stop her, you have to believe me! I only found out later her reasoning for killing you was that Jasper had started questioning what happened and was heading back to confront her. She had to get rid of you before he made contact with you. I would have tried…, I would have…" He was yelling now pulling against his restraints.

"James showed up to kill me in the very beg…"

"No, no, no, no." shaking his head vigorously. "James was there to see Alice, yes, but not to kill you. Not that I know of anyway. He wasn't supposed to chase you. Fucking idiot. He didn't even know about you until the field. Alice just thought it would be funny to see me try to protect you when they showed up. That's her idea of a good time. She fucks with people." His snarl at the end was impressive. What he was saying made sense. It also matched what Victoria had told us. Edward was quick to throw Alice under the bus. How much Edward's true involvement in all this remained to be seen. I believed what he had said about Alice. But what was his part?

I couldn't believe how easy it was for him to be spewing like this. Maybe this would be easier than we thought.

By giving him false statements, he seemed quick to correct it. I just hoped he continued when it came time to give up the goods on Alice and him. I had a suspicion we wouldn't be so lucky.

I hadn't been positive if Alice knew Jasper was my mate before the birthday party. From what Monstress had shown me, Jasper at least had feelings of some sort, or at least he had some pull to me, felt protective of me, before my birthday. Thinking Alice was his mate, me being human, him drinking animal blood, those feelings probably just confused him and were seriously muted. That was our guess anyway. I couldn't imagine anyone not claiming his or her mate. The impossibility of that happening was overwhelming. Something would've happened differently.

We were never given the chance to really get that close to one another. Alice kept Jasper on a short leash and Edward kept me on a shorter one. Jasper and I barely ever spoke and were never left in the same room alone together. There was once in Phoenix, when Alice had gone out to contact James and tell him what to do, but that was it.

"How can Alice not see you now?" Edward asked into the quiet room.

"Oh, that's easy, Victoria spilled the beans. She let it out that Alice couldn't see the wolves. So Jacob took care of it for me." I reached down, lifted the single claw around my neck, and held it up. "He got his claw stuck in Victoria's face and it got ripped out in the fight. He gave it to me. It acts the same way as it would if he were here." I'm not even sure why I told him that. It wasn't a secret, however, and he wasn't going anywhere. Alice would be dead soon. Giving into one of his questions to show good faith may pay off later. We were going to need all the help we could get, no matter how small it was.

Edward's eyes bugged out of his head as he took in the large claw now resting on my chest, but he didn't say anything.

"What is he, what are all these people?" He glanced at Nevell in the corner as he did so.

"That 'he' is Nevell, and he is a Dhampir. As for the others they would be Ghouls." Why not tell him? I guess I was feeling generous. The ghouls that brought him in were not likely to speak to him. They're very loyal to one another and wouldn't be giving any information about themselves to Edward in the near future, if at all ever, if the earlier incident were anything to go by. No, the only attention Edward would garner from them would not be a verba onel.

"Dhampir?" He croaked. His eyes flashing… fear? " What… Ghouls? What the hell is going on? Ghouls aren't real!"

I noticed he didn't ask what a dhampir is. That brief flash of fear in his eyes made me curious.

"Well, don't tell them that, I think they're under the impression that they're very real. They bleed, as you well know, from ripping off Randal's arm earlier. You should be more careful; you take on one ghoul there are bound to be more around the corner to back 'em up."

Enough of me giving answers, time for Edward to answer some. "Tell me Edward, what do you think Carlisle and Eleazar will do when they find out you've been playing with Mary-Alice Bysshop?"

That threw him for a loop.

His face showed fear and tried to cover it up, to no avail. His eyes couldn't lie. I saw it there. He as afraid. Very afraid.

"What… how…" his voice shook.

"We know who Alice is. Took us awhile, but we know. Tell me what's in it for you Edward? Why would you go against Eleazar's Line like that? Hell, why would you betray Carlisle? What does Alice have, huh? Why are you protecting her?"

"I'm not. I don't know what…" his eyes darted between Nevell and I.

"Cut the bullshit." I spit out. "I don't have the patients or the time for you to act naive and play innocent with me. So what is it? Are you just bored with life and like to fuck with people? What's in it for you? What does she give you that would make you do what you've done? What would make you follow her around like lost puppy doing her dirty work?"

His face went still emptying of all emotion and said nothing. I think he turned paler.

"So what is it? Huh?"

Nevell glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, I was loosing my composed stance.

I was a bit amazed seeing him did absolutely nothing for me. I suppose keeping an eye on them over the years had taken any nostalgia out of our first face-to-face meeting for me. He looked nothing more than a lost little boy now. Nothing more.

I was getting antsy. I wasn't even sure why. Monstress was becoming more and more restless. Looking at Edward just pissed me off. All the times he lied to me. Lied to everyone. Leaving me in the woods. No matter the excuse, it could have gone differently. He and Alice had taken away our mate, maybe not directly, but he had been apart of it. They had sentenced the wolves to die. Alice might not have been there herself, but the 3 wolves that did die left their blood on her hands.

Rage was seeping into my veins.

"Let me make it clear to you Edward, you may not answer me now, but you will answer. Eventually, through some sort of pain you will give us what we want, or we'll get those answers from Alice, either way… the games are over for both of you." I hissed at him.

Why was I getting so agitated all of a sudden? All I wanted to do was ram his head into the wall over and over. I wanted to make him talk. I forced myself to calm the fuck down. What the hell? I could feel Monstress full on pacing now.

"You can't make me talk to you." he lashed out between gritted teeth, another flash of fear adhering to his features for a brief second. This meeting was about getting him to calm down a little. I wasn't ready to start ripping his fingers off. I needed to back off.

"We'll see. You don't have to protect her anymore. No one is going to be able to protect Alice anymore. We've taken away her vision she's relied upon for a good 450 years, without it and her current confinement… there is no help for her, she will eventually crack, it's just a question of how long it will take." Okay, I wasn't backing off; I decided to instigate responses again.

His flinched visibly and stared at me. "What do you mean for the last 450 years?" he asked quietly.

"You didn't know? I find that hard to believe." I laughed harshly. "You can read her mind. Just like you can read Carlisle's. I bet you have a lot of secrets, don't you Edward. At least you hold a lot of other people's secrets. Let me tell you Edward. I've traveled the globe unraveling Alice. Piece by bloody piece. I know most all her dirty little secrets. There is a vast number of them I probably don't want to know, but we know far more than enough. Alice's reign over her little dynasty is _over_. We're well prepared for the fall out that will come with her death. Whether you want to join her in death is up to you. Think about it."

Silence filled the room as he stared at me than Nevell. It looked like he was reading Nevell's mind for a seond. Then his brow scrunched, looking back at me.

"Why can't I read him or the others? How is that possible?" this question Nevell could answer. That was twice he had ignored Nevell and asked me instead. It was rude to ask me with Nevell standing right in front of him, so I let Nevell have the floor. I was a little wary though. It really looked like he was getting something from Nevell just then.

It gave me a chance to get my bearings. I felt off. So did Monstress. She was still pacing stirring up my irritation along with hers. I barely seemed to hold her back at all.

"I have no idea how your gift works, or why you can't read our minds. Maybe we're all more gifted than you are." Nevell said with a slow smile.

Edward flinched visibly and growled looking back at me as if he wanted to rip me a new asshole. His fear had left him. His glare sent my venom to boil.

"Well it would seem that I'm not completely immune to you, Eddie boy. I know you saw that." Nevell said and laughed.

Edwards quickly glanced at Nevell and back to me again, "Why do you flaunt yourself like that Isabella? I thought your leathers were bad enough, but to parade around naked! I see you aren't…" I tried to tune him out.

I rolled my eyes at him, and wanted to punch Nevell.

This little excersion hadn't gone the way I thought it was going to. I was distracted and kept bating and taunting Edward. All I had come in here for was to get Edward to calm down and shut up. What little progress we made was gone.

I wasn't sure how I lost my composure. Nevell taunted him to be funny and get a rise out of Edward. I suppose Nevell picturing me in undress pushed Edward over the edge. Which is exactly what Nevell was going for. I couldn't complain too much. It had broken Edward's moral conduct rules making him give up the ruse he couldn't read Nevell at all. I didn't care who saw me naked, but Edward seemed to. Not that I flaunted it or anything. But we have a very public bathing system… jeez.

"Let's get something out in the open right now, Edward. "I shut him up mid-rant, "You don't get to judge me. You don't get to have a say in anything I've done are will do in the future. You left me in the woods years ago. You chose to lie to me. You chose to lie to Jasper. You've chosen to betray Carlisle and your family. You've sided and aligned yourself with a fucking monster. From what I've seen and heard in the years since you left? You haven't batted a lash in remorse for your part in what you and your 'sister' have done to people I care about or about me. Nor, have you ever stepped forward to fix any of you all's mess. No, you ran away like the fucking pussy you are. So get this straight Edward. You say one more thing to me like that again and you'll be praying for salvation."

His eyes flared "You're dressed like a whore, you parade around..." that's all he got out before the baseball bat was off the table in a blur and slamming into his knee. His knee bent with the blow and shattered. The sound of thunder echoed around us. Some of Peter's inventions were fucking cool as hell, and came in right handy.

Edward screamed. The bat was back on the table before anyone knew what happened. Edward panted in pain. He finally opened his eyes to look at me. They were full of fear and anger. I rejoiced in the fear I had inflicted on him. I could hear his leg mending itself. The shrieking of muscle made me cringe.

I had never moved.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I warned you. We're done here for now, Edward. Rest up and think about what it is that you need to do. You have one of two choices. You can answer our questions and live or you can choose pain and death. It's really quite fucking simple."

I walked to the door letting Nevell and I out. I was done with that. I had to get out of there before I fucking blew it and killed him. This unrest in my chest was driving me mad.

Maybe Edward would hopefully shut up and think now instead of acting like a lunatic. Or maybe that was me. What was going on with me?

We didn't say a word until we turned down the tunnel leading us to Command central and ducking into a vacant room.

"What do you think?" I asked Nevell quietly.

"Well, that went better than I expected it to actually. No limbs were torn off. As for what he said... Time will tell. At least he's quiet for now; you gave him a lot to think about. He didn't question what I was. That means he at least knows what I am. He knows about Carlisle. As for Alice? I don't understand why he's protecting her. She has some kind of power over him or he just really gets off on the power of his position."

"I agree… I think..."

Monstress lurched in me making me stagger and suddenly my body was full of awareness.

I stared blindly forward as my surroundings became white noise, my body a statue.

I heard something squawking in my ear and I reached up pulled the offending object away from me throwing it to the floor.

I felt thousands of pinpricks awash my body making me hypersensitive. I wasn't sure what was being said, I could hear someone talking to me but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

As I flew out the door the occupants on the outside parted and I blurred down the underground tunnel that would lead me to the source of my madness.

I couldn't stop, didn't want to stop. I flew past figures on the unlit path leading me to my prey. My chest was on fire.

Monstress was spurring me on. She was at the forefront searching and driving me forward, as if I was going to try to stop us from continuing.

As the tunnel dumped me out on the first floor of the 4-floor structure beneath the mountain I made a plunge for the stairs and headed down to the 3rd layer to the Command center. Bursting through the door, I raced along the corridor leading to the only thing that would give me relief, whatever was in the room holding the fortresses central line of our entire organization, was my deliverance.

Rounding the corner I saw the doorway that stood in-between me and what was mine I blinked switching to inferred, picking up the two blue shapes that made up the vampire signatures in front of me. I could hear a deep male voice roaring his demanded questions and commands as he paced the room like a cat.

Jasper.

What I assumed was Peter's blue signature, was off to the right side of the room on his knees holding out his hands with his head lowered in a submissive pose.

Monstress purred inside me making my chest rumble. My eyes stayed on Jasper watching him pace as I put my hand into the security panel. The door slid open and I stepped in changing my vision at the same time.

Jasper stopped pacing. He stood in all his glory, rage rolling off of him. Tall, disheveled dirty blond locks ending at his sharp angled jaw, lips pulled back in a snarl. Lean tight muscled shoulders, narrow hips, long defined legs.

If I wasn't in heat before, I was now.

And I couldn't stop it. My head swam with need and want. My entire body aware of the presence before me.

Monstress was motionless, almost in a silent tribute to the man.

To the Beast.

No matter what happened or what the outcome, this man became the center of my world in less than a second.

Unshakably.

He was it.

The center of my existance.

I would kill for this man.

I _had_ killed for this man.

He was everything to me.

How did I go this long without him?

He was my world.

He was everything.

He was mine.

He was ours.

We stared at each other, both slightly panting, nostrils flaring.

Monstress was front and center in my eyes capturing every minute detail of him. Every scar, every twitch of muscle in his thighs as his muscles bunched and released, every strand of hair curled around his face. Every spasm his shoulders endured from his fisted hands he held at his sides.

Our eyes never left his.

I squinted and breathed in a long slow breath of our surrounding air into my body, bringing in his smell, tasting him in the air, stirring reactions in me I didn't know I was capable of.

I was full of heat.

He was full of heat.

He hissed.

I hissed.

He pounced.

I watch him come.

Snarling, and snapping at the air, he came at me like a heat seeking missile.

I dodged him right before he touched me, flying halfway across the room over chairs, couches, tables, before turning in a crouch to face him.

I registered movement out of the corner of my eye.

"Peter, leave." I hissed through gnashing teeth.

"But…"

"NOW." I hissed.

My eyes never leaving Jasper's intense stare. His head was pulled down body crouched to lunge again and he was peering at me from under his lashes through the hair falling in his face.

I barely noticed when the chamber door opened freeing Peter to the outside. The second hiss closing me in, telling me I was now alone with the beast in front of me.

I purred loudly in breathy pants.

Monstress was undulating against the inside of my skin, as I held firm to my pose, watching for any minute movement.

All that was heard was our purring and low chest growls.

Jasper stood up slowly.

Ramrod straight. Grimacing, he tilted his head back and tasted the air. I could smell the pheromones coming off of me in waves.

Enticing him.

Encouraging him.

He hissed.

I could taste him in the air around me, making me needy and wanton from his arousal. His leather masculine spice and sex scent sending me into near madness. If the bulge threatening to rip through his pants was any indication, I would say Jasper was willing and ready to mate.

Bring it, big boy.

Jasper flinched forward and I was across the room in a flash, him right on my ass, kicking off the wall I did a backward flip, changing directions as I spun, diving under his leap to seize me, we nearly collided as I swept under him blurring back to the place I had just started, now facing to the right.

Jasper stopped.

He was 5 feet closer to me than he was before, in the same ramrod straight stance he had previously been in. Hands fisted at his sides panting.

I felt I like I was in a wild kingdom episode on national geographic.

This was a dance.

Not a fight for your life, but a fight for dominance and the right to mate. We were dancing in some mating ritual, I found myself not questioning the dance but why I knew this.

Monstress was driving.

This was right. We would make him show us.

I figured the first time Jasper and I would come face to face, I would have to sit down and explain why we were feeling what we were feeling. Tell Alice had lied to him this entire time. It would be a process. He would be pissed, I would feel guilty, I would cry, he would be irritated.

But this?

This was better.

This was us.

This meant he knew. He wasn't going to fighting it.

He recognized me as his.

He didn't reject us.

He let us dance.

He took another lunge at me. I faked right jumped left, he caught me airborne and we crashed down destroying one of the tables that occupied the room. He held me down on my side amongst the rubble with his teeth at my neck. I tried to move as he wrapped his arms and legs around me holding me down, he bit down harder on me, his low rumbling growl of warning was met with one of our own.

I could feel Monstress rise up against my skin vibrating with elation at our first contact. He felt like heaven. Definitely not anywhere near what I pictured as our first encounter. Monstress and instinct were in control. I was at her mercy.

I don't believe I had a choice in the matter.

Even if I did, I wouldn't stop it.

This was something I had never heard of before. Nothing Charlotte or anyone else ever told me about mating, would have prepared me for this. The need for him to dominate was so strong and overwhelming I nearly gagged with it. I let no one dominate me. I gave control to no one.

The need to get away and make him work for it was an even stronger force inside me. Driving me to avoid him, while the ache in me demanded he take me.

We stayed prone on the floor unmoving, snarling at each other occasionally, for several minutes. I would try to move and he would tighten himself around me. I tried to formulate words, but found all I could muster were snarls, growls, and hisses.

He would tighten his teeth on my neck, growl, and try to ball me up underneath him with his legs, before going still again, just holding me steady.

I could feel his arousal on the outside of my hip, pulsing.

He was trying to make me submit. But I wouldn't give in that easily. I didn't want to submit. I was not docile. If he wanted me he was going to have to work for it.

He started to re-arrange himself on top of me again and I wedged myself out from under him flipping over and was across the room in a breath.

Monstress liked the fact we escaped. She wanted him to prove his worthiness to mate with us. Her come hither purr erupted from my grimaced mouth inviting Jasper to try again. He hadn't moved from where we left him. He was now in a crouch, sitting on his haunches, fingertips resting on the floor in front of him.

Watching.

Waiting.

Testing.

Panting.

Purring.

Studying.

"_MMaaaAATtttte_." Monstress hissed and gently moved herself against me, pushing me forward; I cautiously flexed my leg lifting it to take a step. Staring into Jaspers eyes I almost gasped as I caught a shadow slide across his eyes.

"_Was that what… I think it was_?"

"_ooouUUUrrrRRss_." She told me. "_OuuurrrRRRsssss_" she purred harder.

"_Holy shit_."

"_GRRrrrrrrnnnnhhhHggg_"

I couldn't quiet wrap my head around that.

Jasper leapt then, being off guard at the revelation to what Monstress just confirmed my reaction to dodge away didn't quite get us clear of him and he grabbed my leg yanking me back. I spun in the air, trying to break his hold; he yanked my leg down and toward him, bringing me to land up against him. My arms trapped under his as he held me strong locked against his chest.

His lips were on mine in a snarl and I thought I would die from the intoxication from his scent and taste.

There wasn't even a way to really describe the explosion that happened from his mouth pressing to mine. His smell invaded my brain. His taste was better than any blood I had ever had. Instead of really kissing me, he just held our mouths together. Arms locked around my arms making me immobile. My upper lip stuck in-between his, his bottom lip captured in mine.

"_MaaaaatTTee_" Monstress panted.

His lips so damn soft and full against mine.

Our eyes locked together in standoff, I got an up close and personal look at what I glimpsed moments ago. Monstress had been holding out on me. I wasn't the only one with someone else looking out. She put her claws in my skull and dug in making me pay attention to what was going on. Even if I wanted to speak when I moved my lips Jasper grabbed my bottom lip with his teeth, making it impossible. He didn't break skin, but he let me know it was not time for words.

I let go slightly of my rigid stance, relaxing a tiny bit. Jasper's eyes flared at the submissive movement gripping me tighter. I waited a few breaths then released a little more tension.

Panting, he released his teeth from my lips and licked across them in an apologetic, grooming way, but didn't move his head a centimeter.

Lips still pressed together.

I never wanted him to let go. I wanted to stay forever in those arms, feeling, tasting, and devouring, the atmosphere around us and in us. I needed to bask in the flavors of his flesh, feel him from inside.

I needed to get away from him.

Monstress demanded it.

As Jasper once again began to relax his hold I snarled and was off like a shot. I slid down his body pushed off the ground in a sideways plunge and bolted from under his arms. This time I made it across the room only to turn and find he was right behind me, I leapt straight in the air pushing my foot off his shoulder I sailed over him doing a roll in the air, landing to push off again springing across the room spinning to crouch, my back was nearly against the wall in one of the corners of the room.

I found it odd that neither one of us had spoken a word. Neither of us had used our gifts on each other.

Hisses, purrs, growls, filled the air, but neither of us seemed to question what was happening between us.

It was just he and I.

Jasper and Izzy.

Beast and Monstress.

Jasper didn't stand still this time. He began to stock back and forth in front of me. Making patterns of semi-circles as he paced us.

Hunted us.

As if he were trying to find our weaknesses. As he would move I would mirror him. He was grimacing; seeming to scent the air letting, my pheromones increase his sexual need. He reached down grabbing his bulge rubbing its' length twice, long and slow, before pulling his hand back to his side again making a fist to match his other hand.

We hissed at him.

Monstress and I watched him.

Waiting.

Pacing, snarling, scenting.

He came close on one of his passes and Monstress purred our approval to him. Finally my body began to relax on it's own. His head in the air his mouth grimacing, tongue on the roof of his mouth with the tip sticking almost out tasting what my body was telling him, presenting him.

He was feral.

His next pass was closer and I was nearly on the floor now. Crouched like he was earlier, on my haunches, hands resting on the floor in front of me.

He stopped pacing 3 feet from me, his side facing me as he squatted down and turned his head to me.

"Gggruuuuurrnngghhhhhgggrrr" he purred deeply, slowly moving toward me hands first inching himself forward. I leaned in as he drew near and rubbed my face into his neck. He went to lunge for me and I grabbed his neck in my teeth, not breaking skin, but stopping him before he could control me with his body.

His purr of ascent was answered and granted with the release of my teeth as I let him go and licked his neck, letting him know I forgave him. Our bodies slowly gravitated to one another and we were soon rubbing each other.

Heads together we moved in unison, as our lips came closer and close.

His lips grazed mine and I moaned as I yielded to him.

Soft tentative touches with our hands on each other bodies.

Touching him was magic.

Feeling him was indescribable.

Smelling him was euphoric.

His lips enveloped mine in tenderness and reverence.

He tasted me with his tongue and I opened my mouth to accept him and my body shifted.

The ground moved.

The world tilted.

It was the most sensual thing that I could ever imagine.

It was more.

As the universe spun our bodies became ravenous. Are hands undulated on each other trying to find flesh.

Grabbing, clawing, tearing and searching for more.

His hand grabbed the back of my neck holding me to his mouth as the other ripped and tore my leathers off my body. I tore and destroyed his horrendous clothing.

Skin met naked skin.

I was falling.

Spiraling endlessly.

Sucking, nipping, clawing, trying to get closer trying to crawl into each other.

There was no fight for dominance anymore, there was only a mutual fight to be joined together.

I was airborne and against the wall before I knew we had moved and he was positioning himself to me.

My legs wrapped around him and he was inside me.

I screamed and my head reared back and slamming into the cave wall behind me. Small stones gave way to my hard body as I arched and gave Jasper my gift.

His stillness was one of shocked awareness as he reached up grabbed my head bringing my eyes to look at him.

Complete and utter possessiveness and awe filled his eyes.

"MMMiiinnneeee." He panted. "MmaaAAtte." He all but screeched at me in a husky growl.

To show me in case I didn't get it the first time he pulled slowly from me and slid back in, less forcefully than the first time, but there was no mistake as to what he wanted me to know.

I was his.

Body and soul.

"MmmIIiiiiNnne." I answered in a hiss and did the same to him. Pulling my hips back I slammed him back into me as I pulled with my feet and pushed with my ass.

He purred his approval.

He moved inside me in jerky controlled thrusts, filling me, completing me. I began to move with him and we found our rhythm in wild bursting thrusts that sent my body in to a kaleidoscope of sensations.

The only thing I was aware of was him.

He consumed me, consumed us.

His powerful, strokes rocking us together in a dance of symmetry. It was all I could do to hold onto his shoulders as we came together over and over.

As fire in my womb grew to shattering, as I felt myself sliding into an inferno of tingles and sensations my mouth fell open in a strangled prayer for release.

As his thrusts broke that rubber band inside me I jerked my head forward and latched onto Jaspers neck sinking my teeth into his flesh with a ferocious growl, my lips sealed around the bite and sucked his nectar into my veins as Jasper made a strangled noise of his own, his hips jerking into me, giving me his seed as his teeth sank tearing into my flesh.

Claiming each other.

We both came a second time as we drank from each other.

The world spun and dipped gathering momentum as our souls claimed one another in perfect unity.

I was euphoric.

We were one.

No matter what happened between us now, there would always this unbreakable link to each other.

Whether either of us liked it or not.

As we both came down we released our mouths and licked each other's necks gathering every last drop of the others' essence we could. Our heads lay gently together, bodies purring to one another in contentment.

The world righted itself.

Jasper pulled his head slowly away from mine and stared into my eyes.

"_Isssabeeelllllaaa_" he purred.

As I looked into his eyes seeing Jasper and his Beast staring back.

Monstress and I purred.

"_OouuuuRRrrRSsss_"

**SO... some of you might be pissed that they already mated only 4 chapters in. But I can't help that.**

**I could've pussy footed around it, but it would have affected the whold story. **

**I tried to drop some hints that just because they have mated doesn't make them automatically buddy buddy. **

**Izzy has a lot to account for. I would think Jasper isn't going to like the answers he gets from her. **

**Izzy isn't going to be too keen on being dominated... so... it'll be interesting.**

**Thanks again to the response this story has gotten. See you next week... maybe by weekend I'll have the next chapter up.**

**Have a great weekend.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you everyone! I'm blown away by all the reviews, story alerts and fav's this story is getting! I'm happy you're all enjoying it. I have to say I am too! I love writing Monstress.**

**As you know you have to be 18 to read the M's. This story will get graphic with the sex, swearing and gore. Just so you know. **

**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and I own this one.**

~**Shit Happens When You Have Other Plans**~

~Izzy POV~

Bliss

That's what this is.

Bliss.

There doesn't seem to be a recovery time for a vampire in mating heat. We were insatiable. Add an empath into the mix… are there really words describing something so earth shattering? I believe it would take away something from the experience by trying to form an actual language to something so profound.

We were in that room for hours. Neither of us spoke more than each other's names or a purring of claim. Jasper let his empath abilities come out to play. Nothing makes you come like your mate sharing his lust for you on top of your own.

We were feral. Complete animals. Hours slipped away as we danced and claimed one another. Days could have passed. We were in a never-ending spin cycle. It was better than anything I had hoped for and more.

Until Peter.

When Peter, the arse, deemed us 'done' in the wee hours of the morning, he opened the door and took a fire extinguisher spraying us apart. Fucker. Charlotte behind him apologizing trying to drag him out of the room, slapping the shit out of Peter, all brought us back to earth.

I grabbed naked Jasper and hauled our laughing derrières through the maze of tunnels leading him to the exit underneath the waterfall.

We cleaned our mating evidence off each other's bodies in reverence. Washing each other's hair and exploring each other's bodies. He was obsessed with my 3 belly-button rings.

It was peaceful. Playful.

I felt truly home for the first time since I woke up to this life.

But, as all great defining moments in history do, they all come to pass.

As he finished washing my hair I felt his fingers slowly tracing my scars down my neck, over my shoulders, across my back, down my arms to my fingers. He turned me around slowly to face him. Touching lightly to the scars on my shoulder blades, while he held me in place with a hand on my hip. When he looked up into my eyes I saw in his he wasn't the only one watching me. I felt Monstress looking back at them.

"When she started screaming we had to run, we all needed to get out of there, we were going to die?" His chuckled, watching his finger play along the thin leather strip holding my claw, "If I'd known this was death, I would' a run long time ago. Run faster. Maybe I am dead. I've been reunited with three people I thought to be dead already." He looked back up to me.

My face slowly lost its happy when I saw the anger, hurt and confusion creeping into his face. I felt his emotions start to seep from him. This wasn't how I expected us to start talking. Truth be told, I hadn't tried to think past the bliss. I slowly came crashing down with him.

He reached up and touched the left side of my neck. I knew he was feeling the scar that changed my life into this one.

"Who?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said simply. "I don't have memories of my change or who changed me."

He nodded his head furrowing his brow. His sadness I felt from was overwhelming. He cleared the venom from his throat, and gave me a small smile. I expected him to question me further about it but I was surprised when he went in a different direction.

"I'm not complaining I'm here," he reached up and twisted a strand of my hair, watching it slip through his fingers. "I just need some answers. I believe I can think half way normally again." He laughed and the light I came accustomed to in the last few hours came peeking out for a second. And just as quickly it was gone again. I slowly reached up and put my hands on either side of his torso, rubbing my thumbs into his skin, trying to ground myself. "I have so many questions," he shook his head as he trailed off, looking into my eyes, looking for answers, "I don't know where to begin."

I let the air out of my lungs. Bliss took a back burner. I could feel his emotions surrounding us now, engulfing us; all I wanted to do was take the hurt away. I felt like I couldn't talk fast enough to explain.

No matter how I wanted to stay in our little bubble, real questions were going to have to be answered. Justifications made for the past years of no contact and letting everyone, especially him, think Peter, Charlotte… and I… were dead. How do you explain to someone you did it for them? Where do I start? How do you leave your mate with a mortal enemy? How does someone let you go on thinking you're all alone?

There was that guilt. Creeping up on me. Gagging me.

Taking a deep breath I asked the one question I had been dying to know for over 15 years now, "Did you know I was your mate in Forks?" my voice lower and more gravely than I wanted it to be. I had to start somewhere. No whining, Izzy. Suck it up. I cleared my throat of venom and looked into his eyes.

He raised his eyebrow giving me a burst of frustration, letting me know this wasn't exactly what he was talking about. "No. When you first started coming around, to be honest, I didn't pay much attention to you. You were just an annoyance. Then… I started to feel protective when we were in Phoenix… it was confusing. It felt so damn good to protect you, I felt possessive." He let out a big sigh, shaking his head. "I chalked it up to bein' protective of anyone in the family. That maybe I was starting to really look at you as a member of the family and someone for Edward." He growled as did I. "You were supposed to be… well…. I made excuses for what I felt."

I nodded encouraging him to continue.

"I was never really around you. Alice was always tellin' me not to kill her friend and I would feel guilty and stayed away. I was never even allowed to be alone with you," he said frustration evident in his voice.

"I know, I wasn't allowed to be alone with you either. Edward always said you were too unstable. He had me under his thumb." I gave a slight smile as he scoffed and growled.

I was a little amazed that I didn't feel anything when he said Alice's name. Well besides the normal hate I felt for her all the time. I didn't feel threatened when it came to Jasper, at all. Maybe the last 12 hours of hot mating sex helped.

He wore my mark.

I wore his.

It was hard to describe the feeling of utter possession. I knew no matter what, if we fought, or even came to hate each other, we owned each other body and soul. There was no going back. No rewind button. There had only been one couple in history of mates, I knew of, who had bloody battles. They created their own separate Lines and fought against each other. That was a long story and for another time.

This was it, for Monstress and I. She was lazy and content for the moment, letting Jasper and I work our shit out. I think even her psyche had taken a hit. She was worn out. I wanted to slap her and make her help me, give me extra strength, but she left me to my own devices.

There was hope for us. We just had to get to know each other. Find some common ground. We were doing this backwards. We just needed to take a step back.

When I was in the unit with Edward I felt like I was going crazy. I now understood what I was feeling then. The closer Jasper got the more I felt alive. The more I could feel his presence and wanted to be in it. I could feel him coming nearer. We hadn't gotten close enough to him before to feel it. Or maybe I did, but was too far away for the full impact. The closer he came to camp the more I lost it with Edward. I said things I wasn't supposed to yet, asked questions better left for later. I was spiraling out of control. I let my anger lash out.

Finding Jasper in the state he was in, I knew my irritation had something to do with either his emotions or the fact he was near and I wasn't near enough to him.

I know Peter and Charlotte can feel each other when the other is in trouble. Or when the others emotions suddenly shift drastically. They get really irritable when they've spent too much time a part as well.

All the waiting, searching and fighting and… all of it came down to this. Jasper being here.

Now here he stood. Wanting answers I was afraid to give him. I had to have faith he wouldn't just disappear on me. He would understand this whole mess. Would want to join in the fight next to me and not against me. He would want to stay.

I had to make him understand why we left him there for so long.

We still didn't know all the players, but I couldn't wait for him any longer. Even if Peter and the others said no again, I would have gone and gotten him. I didn't care about the war that would start. Didn't care about the consequences. I needed him. He needed me. He might not have known it but I sure as hell did.

I was hoping at the very least he would help us. That would give me years for him to get to know who I was now. I could get to know him and not just the stories others told me.

Jasper was watching me, I'm sure feeling the gambit of emotions washing through me, and before I could say anything he started talking again, "I'm truly sorry about your birthday. When I lunged for you…" he looked pissed. "It took me awhile to sort through it. At first all I could do was run. I felt so many things at once. Shock, was at the top of the list. Guilt. I tried to just block the whole thing out a' my head at first. My instinct to have you when I smelled your blood took me off guard. It wasn't just your blood I wanted, but at the time it's all I allowed myself to acknowledge. I didn't understand why I would feel such conflicting emotions over my brothers' mate. I let it be about my bloodlust. I blocked out my inner beast and ran."

I let him talk. I wanted to know all this. No one had been able to tell me what happened to Jasper after that day.

"Alice caught up to me and gave me the biggest guilt trip about tryin' to kill her friend and lettin' my bloodlust control me." I growled, anyone with half a brain knew it was Edward's bloodlust not Jasper's, "I let her anger over-take me, her disappointment, her bitterness. I let myself only feel what she gave me 'cause I felt so guilty and confused." He looked up at me and touched my cheek with his fingers. He smiled softly, but there was such pain in his eyes, such anger. I could feel the underlying rage he wasn't showing me. He was trying to control his temper.

"You know it wasn't your bloodlust, right? It was Edwards?" I said through gritted teeth.

"It was everyone's. I know. You need to understand; I needed to believe I lunged for you for your blood only. Alice was my mate. Edward was yours. But when Edward's bloodlust for you came too much and he reached for you and then to pushed you, I thought he was giving into the bloodlust, I had to stop him." He said angrily. "All I could think was mine! I wanted your blood, I wanted you. Then he pushed you and all I wanted to do was protect you," he admitted and you could tell saying it out loud was a relief. Admitting it after all these years to himself and out loud to someone else, released something inside him. "I wasn't supposed to be coveting somethin' that wasn't mine. At the time, I made excuses for it. Buried those feelings deep. Now I know I should have went with my instincts." He let out a harsh sound.

"Alice knew." I couldn't help blurt out. He gave me a funny look, so I clarified. "Alice knew we were mates. _When_ she figured it out I don't know. She threatened to kill me before she left." He snarled but I went on to tell him what happened when everyone left.

I told him about her knowing we were mates, explaining Laurent and Victoria. I relayed what I learned from Edward earlier. I told him about Victoria coming with newborns and killed 3 of the wolves before the wolves killed them. I told him how my Dad had found out about the wolves around the same time and then found out about the vampire world, and how he had helped me to hide and faked my death. I told him some of what Victoria said, and Jacob helping. As I spoke he got even more outraged. I couldn't stop the flow of words coming out of my mouth. When I finally shut up he was silent and scowling.

I held my breath.

"I didn't know." He finally bit out, "When I left Alice and the family for a few months, I wondered around looking for Peter and Charlotte. I realized a few things. I finally let my beast talk to me. He made me realize it was possible you were my mate. I fought against it. Argued. In the end I decided to confront Alice first. Ask her if she'd seen it comin'. I'm not sure why. My beast wanted to kill her. I shoved all of it down deep inside me. I just wanted answers. I thought it would hurt Alice and Edward, but I needed to know. I didn't want to upset my brother and my… supposed mate." His harsh angry laugh sent shivers down my spine.

"When I got there," He closed his eyes. "She told me you were dead. I left immediately. I saw your grave. I went into a full depression. I had nowhere to go, so I went back to the family. I almost went back to the South. I let Alice convince me it was somekind of familial instinct to grieve over you, I was letting the guilt get in the way. I let her convince me because the alternative was too much. I pushed my beast back down. Chained him. Alice and I fought all the time; I just couldn't be with her. I left again for a while. Emmett and Rosalie called me and asked me to either come back or let them join me." He let out a long sufferable sigh "I chose to go back. Alice was gone at the time. By the time she got back… our relationship was over for good, and although she kept telling me we were mates, I just didn't see it. I tried to convince myself at first I was just depressed, but the emotions she once held for your death towards me, and her disappointment, was too much. My deep anger at loosing you. We drifted apart. I want you to know Isabella, I haven't touched Alice since before that party."

I just nodded my head. I knew this. I didn't know when they stopped sleeping with each other, but I knew their relationship changed. If they'd been having sex, I wouldn't have been able to leave him there. No mate could have withstood that.

He narrowed his eyes at me. He was incensed.

"Why are you nodding your head like you know that. Why don't you act surprised? What's with all the damn guilt?" he asked finally breaking his gentle façade he'd been trying to hold onto.

Well, here it comes. I could feel it in my bones. "We've been watching the Cullen's for the last 9 years" I just spit it out in a rush. Like ripping a band-aid off.

"What? You've been watching for 9 years?" He gritted out slowly. "Why the fuck didn't you come to me before now? You let me think you were dead all these years? Peter and Charlotte left me there… did you all know I thought the three of you were dead?" he let go of me and fisted his hands to his sides. "Do you know how fucking guilty I've felt all these years for tearing you away from the family? For making Edward feel he had to leave you? The self-hatred I've harbored all these years? For trying to attack you? Do you have any idea what it's been like to…." He titled his head back and roared.

I felt the firing squad lining up in front of me and take aim.

"I know. That's shitty. Please, listen before you tear me apart." I put my hands up in request.

He nodded his head sharply.

Taking another deep breath, "I didn't even find Peter and Charlotte for the first 5 years after I was changed. When we found them, we put a lot of this shit together and started looking for answers. Nevell had a lot of information he gave us. We knew if we went and stole you then or in the years since, before we were prepared, we would have started a war we wouldn't have won. I know I'm not making any sense. But please know, I have argued with the others on numerous occasions on whether to just go get you out, to kidnap you. But in the end, what good would it have done if we did take you and we all ended up dead? We couldn't take you without Eleazar's involvement. He would have sent an army to get you back. Telling Eleazar the story would've gotten us killed along with the wolves. There were only 4 of us, even with you on our side to fight with us, we would have died." Another deep breath "There are other reasons as well. Its big and complicated and a messy. Alice would never have let us rest. Even if she didn't see us she would have figured out how to track us. All I can do is apologize until my last breath about how sorry I am that it took this long."

I pled with my eyes for him to make sense out of what I just rambled. He was a motionless, brows drawn together, looking at me trying to make sense of it.

"What does Eleazar have to do with this? Why would he have sent anyone? When did you talk to Edward?"

"I talked to Edward earlier when he got to camp." He asked that now? I told him what Edward had said a while back. It just showed what a mess our minds were both in.

"If we would have taken you, either Alice and her Line, or Eleazar… or shit, both for that matter, would have come after you. Alice would have thrown a fit and made sure our lives were hell. She would have chased us to the ends of the earth, not to mention Eleazar and the position that would have put him in. Then it would have dragged the Volturi into the middle of it. With me being alive Irina would have found out about the wolves and tried to kill them…."

"What. Does. Eleazar. Have. To. Do. With. This? What lines of Alice's?" He asked me as if I were fucking 2. That pissed me off. I know I wasn't explaining it well. Well, I wasn't really explaining anything, but shit, where the fuck do I start? I need an instruction book.

"Let's get dressed, this will be easier somewhere I can show you." I said from behind gritted teeth.

I didn't wait for his reply. His emotions he was projecting were affecting me. His irritation was my irritation. I couldn't stay while he insulted me. Fuck him, no one talks to me that way.

We stepped back in to the tunnel entrance and found a pile of clothes I heard Charlotte drop off earlier. We grabbed them dressing quickly.

I saw out of the corner of my eye the smile gracing Jasper's face for a moment when he saw blue jeans, a regular dark gray t-shit and cowboy boots waiting for him.

Charlotte brought my soft leathers. It was about all I wore anymore. The top was like a vest, showing off the scars on my arms and chest, the buttons coming to my cleavage showing off my girls, and the back was pulled together in a crisscross pattern of thin leather straps. My soft black leather pants hung right at my hips and were skintight. Mid thigh leather boots, to hide shit in, completed the outfit.

Over the years I had grown to love leathers. I had them designed to carry my weapons and the gear I wanted when going into a war zone, or doing recon. The soft leather felt wonderful on my body and gave me room to move when fighting. They moved with my body.

I braided my hair and knew when Jasper saw my outfit, I was hit with a bit of lust and a low growl erupted from his throat.

I was up against the wall being held by his body before I could blink, my hands in his over my head.

"What tha' fuck are ya' wearin' darlin'?" he purred. His southern accent sent awareness right to my sex.

"Clothes." I was still a little pissed. I wasn't going to give in easily. We had shit to do. Although I would have loved to fuck him right here, especially since his hard cock was pushing against me, I needed to replenish my system with some nutrients. 12 hours of dancing and fucking… well, I needed some replacements. Which, by looking at Jasper's black eyes, I knew he needed nourishment as well.

"We need to feed." I said changing the subject.

Distract.

"I know you don't drink human blood, but I do." I started. "If you want I'll tell you where the best place is to hunt-"

Suddenly I was somewhere else. In my head we were on the outskirts of a meadow, laying on a rock watching as a panther stocked a deer below us. The feeling of elation as our mate hunted was consuming. He was providing for us and our kits. I watched as he moved fluently through the tall grass stocking his prey.

I could hear Jasper saying something. Calling my name, but I was lost in the pictures Monstress was showing me.

We sat panting on the rock watching as our mate hunted.

I was drawn out by someone screaming and as my vision returned I saw Jasper standing over me looking concerned, I could feel his hands on me trying to hold me up. That was the most intense thing Monstress had ever shown me.

"IZZZZY!" Peter screamed again, as we heard him barreling through the tunnel coming at us. Jasper gave me another quick look of concern and we both turned to see Peter flying around the corner all panicked.

"Why don't ya' have your ear-doohicky in? I've been tryin' to get ya' to answer for the last 20 minutes. Nevell finally told me ya' took it out! You weren't suppose' to take it out, how the hell am I suppose get a hold of ya' if you don't keep it in! Dammit, woman!" Peter was whiny. I wonder what Charlotte did to him or threatened him with for his earlier show.

My mind whipped back to what Monstress just showed me. I wondered what Monstress showing me that really meant. It felt like we had been watching Jasper. That didn't make sense to me.

"If I would have left it in you would have… you know Peter… just tell me what the fuck you want. I need to feed. We need to feed." I shook out of Jaspers grasp and started walking back down the tunnel with Jasper beside me. I felt off again. I was worn out from mating, talking, and the emotional roller coaster. I needed blood.

"I thought getting' laid was suppose' to make ya' happy. Put a kink in ya'r bitch."

"Peter!"

"Oh, right, anyway, we've got trouble."

I turned to him "Already? What the hell..."

"No, no, not from them. In South America. Zafrina. They found another lab." Peter's face turned angry in a second flat.

"Who's Zafrina?" Jasper asked.

"One of our biggest ally's." I told him. This would put a crimp in our plans. "A Dhampir lab? Where is it, who's running it?" I asked Peter. My mind reeled with what this meant and what we had to do. Monstress was front and center.

"No one's for sure who's in charge of it, but Izzy," he took a step back, "it's not a Dhampir lab, it's a ghoul Lab, and they think there's shifters too."

"What? How is that possible? Ah, shit! Is Huilen behind this? When I get a hold of that fucker he better pray!" I was spit. Rage. Venom pooled in my mouth. We had found labs already with dhampirs in South America. His labs. If he was dabbling in others then this was bigger than we even knew. That opened up a whole new world a Oh fuck.

"Don't know. They haven't gone in yet." Peter said gravely, "They're waitin' for us."

"What kind of lab? What are you guys talking about?" Jasper asked.

Peter looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Ya' haven't tol' 'em anythin' yet? What the fuck have ya' been doin'?" Peter used his full southern drawl on me. That fucker could turn that shit on and off faster than anyone I knew.

Jasper and I both gave him a duh look then.

"When we started digging for information we needed, we ran into a few… un-pleasantries along the way." I told Jasper.

"Way ta sugar coat it darlin'." Peter said dryly.

I ignored him. "You know the people here? The ones with heartbeats are Dhampirs, the others are ghouls. Both have come from preternatural labs. Well, they were created in them anyway. There are a few here directly from the Labs and some are the continuation result."

"We shouldn't be talkin about this here." Peter said.

"Why not?" Jasper asked.

"We just shouldn't, besides, we should be showin' ya so ya' can get a broader scope of what's goin' on." Peter said talking about our Intel we had been collecting. He was pissed I hadn't given Jasper the run down yet. Well, shit, what did they all expect?

This meant we needed to go to South America. "Bloody Hell." Thinking of what needed to be done so we could leave. "We need to get Carlisle and Esme down here. We can't have someone showing up at their house or them getting away while we're gone. Get someone to get Edward some flippin blood to him. He'll need to eat. Emmett and Rosalie should be fine. They'll get all pissed off, but the guys can distract them. You guys need to eat before we leave." I rattled.

"Where do you want to put Ma and Pa Kettle and why do we need to feed Edward now?" Peter asked his head tipped and brows furrowed.

"He's recovering from a mysterious wound." I said and giggled, I couldn't help it.

"What'd you dooo, Izzy?" Peter asked with a slow toothy grin.

"You didn't hear? I hit him with your baseball bat." I gave him my own toothy smile in return.

"Nice!" Peter laughed. "I love those bats!"

"How can you do damage with a baseball bat? And what the hell is going on? Where do you have Edward? Where is everyone? Not that I give a shit, but where's Alice? I have some shit I want to talk to her about." Jasper snapped.

"That'd be one a' my inventions. Long story short, I met this ol' woman in Turkey, Pefika, she's got this whole wooden trunk full a vampire ash, see. She tells me she's been savin' it for me. I took-"

"Saving it for you?" Jasper's frustration showed in his body language, his face and his emotions. He losing his last bit of patients with us. We weren't answering his vital questions. I don't think he wanted Peter story time right now. I didn't blame him.

"Yeah, she says, something tol' her she needed to save it and she did, she was killin' these vampires with torches, see, and she saved the ash-"

"With torches?" Jasper sounded impressed. Pefika is an amazing ol' lady. "She saw you coming? Like a seer?"

"Uh, no she just knows shit like me." Peter wiggled his brows. "Anyway, she tells me I need to take it an' make shit with it. I was all confused, until I ran into this chick Kaia in Prague and she figured out a way to use it and make shit, see."

"That's bizarre, and disturbing on so many levels." Jasper said dryly.

"Yeah, well shit. I know right? So I take these ashes to a Shaman woman in New Orleans, Caleigh, and she does some ritual and payer over 'em releasing any remainin' spirit or soul trapped in the ash and purifies it, and then me and Kaia make shit. It's the strongest shit aroun'. We put titanium in it and sometimes on the outside of whatever form we make so we aren't actually touchin' the ash. The titanium makes it stretch further." Peter nodded like the proud poppa he is.

"Holy hell. And you hit Edward with a bat made from this stuff?" Jasper looked back at me, eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"Yeah, well, he pissed me off and I took out his knee. So, he needs food. His body mending would have taken it out of him." I said with a shrug.

"He just stood still and let you hit him? Where is he? Where is everyone else?" Jasper asked his anger coming back.

"Well, let's see. Emmett and Rose are in the sentry camp, probably doin' nails or Emmett's probably in the pit, Edward is down at the end a' camp in an isolated Unit tied to a wall. Alice is in the same predicament only she's in Unit A. Carlisle and Esme are still up north, but'll be joinin' us shortly and we'll put 'em in either the sentry camp or our camp." Peter prattled off looking off toward the camps like he could actually see them through the wall.

Jasper looked befuddled.

Peter turned to me, "Didn't ya' tell 'em anythin'?" He shook his head at me in mock disappointment, but I could see the amusement in his eyes.  
"Who's in South America, Jeb's team, right?" I asked.

We really didn't have time right this moment for me to start explaining, we would have time later.

This would give Jasper an idea of what we'd been up against in the last few years. Show him what we had uncovered. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. But as the saying goes, shit happens when you have other plans.

"Yeah, he's got a team a' 8, we should take Jamie's team with us."

I nodded, that would work. "Do they have specifics yet? How do they know there's other preternatural involved?"

He ignored me. "We need to leave someone here with Edward and Alice. Either Nevell or you and Jasper."

That was a tough one. Turning to Jasper I looked at him for a few minutes. He was totally pissed. He was in the dark, and he was hungry. I didn't want to stay behind. It hadn't even occurred to me it was an option. We had a couple of months to play with before Carlisle or Alice and company came up missing. I decided to let Jasper make the decision.

"Ok, short rundown. Zafrina is an ally. She's one of the Hierarchies. Huilen is a bad guy. He likes to experiment on dhampirs and now the preternatural if our sources are right. He has Labs all over South America. We've found 9 so far between Russia's Labs and his. They were filled with… well with experiments. Dhampirs are Huilen's specialty. Out of the 4 labs in South America, there were only 16 survivors. His creations are cruel and he's… it's bad Jasper… for now just know, it's bad. So, we can go down and help or we can stay here and we can find answers from Alice and Edward, and when the time is right we can help Mac and them with the infiltration from here."

"Hierarchy? Labs?" Jasper whispered. He stared at me for a moment then he looked up at Peter. "How many people do you have total down there and how many are you sending?" Major was front and center. Jasper wanted answers and Major wanted to play. Jasper didn't even know what was truly going on and he was willing to jump in. My heart soared.

"We have 8 trained fighters down there and Jeb. We need a clean up and containment team, Jamie's team has 9. She's the best o' the best. They're trained to fight too, but their specialty is CSI work. They've been to most of our raids."

"Why are Edward and Alice contained?" Jasper asked again.

"Edward and Alice we contained for other reasons we'll have to explain later. Just know they're not going anywhere for awhile, if ever." I explained.

"They've some answerin' to do 'bout what they've done. We can explain on the way since someone hasn't done 'er job." Peter scowled at me.

"Really, Peter? I'm talking to Charlotte, you won't be getting' any for awhile, then maybe you can get off your high horse and back off." I told him.

"Wait…" Peter started. He pushed me too far. He wanted to break up the tension and with his oh so funniness, but I wasn't in the mood.

"Come on we've got work to do. I'll try to get you up to speed and get you logged into the system and show you were the gear is," cutting off Peter's rant that was about to happen. "How long til' the jet is fueled and everyone is ready to go?"

Peter asked instead, "Do you think we should take Emmett and Rosie?"

I stopped walking again, I thought about it. It might be a good idea, let them see what's going on. Then again, shoving a bunch of information at them, and then showing them the Labs? But this would be the perfect opportunity to do it. Rosalie would want to eventually see for herself. "We could. I don't see why we can't take Emmett and Rosalie. They need to be clued in too. We can explain to all three what's going on. Emmett and Rosalie will need animal blood." Thinking about that I laughed, "Actually let them eat down there, that'll make Emmett's day. Jasper and I need to eat. Now."

Turning to Jasper I asked. "Like I said before I drink… we all drink human blood. Donated blood." I amended when I saw his face "We only hunt humans if it's an emergency. If you don't want human blood I can take you out to hunt animals."

"You drink human blood?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, it helps with my gifts."

"She's Izzy man." Peter told him with pride slapping Jasper on the shoulder. I looked at him in question.

"Yeah, I caught that..." Jasper refereeing to Peter screaming my name earlier, then his eyes bugged a little looking at me. "Oh…OH… You're the woman he was telling us about on the way in?" There was some awe in that voice.

I glanced at Peter and he smiled all big and toothy. "They didn't know who Izzy was. I got to tell 'em all about your gifts and shit." His face turned petulant, "I had to do something to fill all those hours, WE didn't get picked up like some people did."

I just shook my head at him, turning to Jasper I asked, "So, what's it going to be?"

"Human blood." That was to the point. I was a little surprised.

"You don't have to, it would be nothing to take you out." I didn't want to make him feel he was pressured into something. But I was totally elated on the inside.

He held up his hand. "If you say it helps and from what Peter has told me it does, I'll give it a shot." He said flatly.

"Alright, let's go I'll show you and then I'll take you to your room to change." I said continuing down the tunnel." Turning to Peter and answering an earlier question I told him, " We can put Carlisle and Esme in a house in our camp, take our cell phones and computers out and all that. Isolate them. Put guards on them."

"I have a room?" Jasper asked.

"Uh, yah."

"Why do I have a room here?"

"You will always have a room here, whether you decide to stay here or leave. Charlotte designed 'em for you." Peter told him. "Your family, that aint never changed, nor will it."

"Them?" the perplexed look on Jasper's face was kinda funny.

"Well, we – Nevell, Peter, Charlotte and I have rooms down here on the second floor back under the mountain, and so do you. That's where I'm going to take you now. Then we all have rooms up above in the trees surrounding the waterfall. You have one up there too." I told him.

He didn't say anything, just absorbed as we walked the halls. Peter took off to get everything organized and left us to get our shit together.

We were silent as we passed people in the tunnels; everyone glanced at us out of the corners of their eyes, some of the woman actually smiled at me, some of the men nodded to Jasper. They were all very careful not to rock the boat. I found it quite amusing. Jasper shot me a bit of his amusement as well. He growled at a couple of men, but he was doing well. I thought I was too. I only hissed twice.

Everyone here knew what it was like when vampires, ghouls or dhampirs mated the first time. For the first couple of months it could get volatile quick if the mated couple wasn't paying attention and let their primal instincts take over. Suspicion, possessiveness, and jealousy were easy emotions to let take you over. It didn't matter who was doing the looking or talking, if you found someone a threat letting your emotions get to you could result in downright warfare. It could get bloody.

We hit the first floor; only a few ghouls and dhampirs were hanging out, talking about the latest happenings in South America.

I walked to the refrigerator unit and grabbed 4 bags. If we weren't going to hunt, and as depleted as we were, we would need 2 bags each.

I led Jasper to the microwaves popped 2 bags in leaned against the counter looking at the room. Nevell was in here and he turned to give us a salacious grin. Jasper's back was too him, but the emotions didn't go undetected. Jasper whipped around and crouched in front of me. I rolled my eyes, making eye contact with Nevell, I made a quick look around the room at the others, looking back at Nevell I tilted my head toward the exit.

He got the hint. He gathered the few loiters and they left quickly and quietly. The smile never left his face. Fucker.

Jasper was growling and backed his ass into me holding me to the counter. I reached forward when the last ghoul left the room and touched his back. Very gently I ran my fingers over his shirt and pulling it up I ran my fingertips over his skin feeling the ridges and groves of his scars.

"They're gone. They won't bother us while we're in here. You can relax now."

He wasn't happy, but he was calmer.

He turned and grabbed me and held me to him.

"I've never felt this way before. I can't get a hold of my instincts." His voice low and gravely, like he was justifying his actions.

"You don't have to explain it to me. I understand. The next couple of months are going to be like this from what I understand. It's the mating bond. Everyone here knows that. They'll try to give us as much room as we need and try not to provoke. Everyone here, you'll notice, is a little carefree. There aren't many secrets living this close together. There've been a couple of people who've 'mated' since coming here; everyone knows what's up with us. Everyone here knows who you are to me."

He scoffed. I should've kept my mouth shut; I only reminded him we needed more talking to do.

The smell of the blood wafted over us and my body began to thrum as it always did. Jasper's eyes were pitch black. He stared at me nostrils flaring.

I raised an eyebrow at him to make sure this is what he wanted. He gave a shaking head nod.

I turned pouring our blood into two glasses and popping the other 2 in the microwave. Turning back around I saw Jasper lifting the glass smelling it.

I watched him mesmerized. He tilted the glass to his lips and tasted it. The rumbling growl in his chest was deep. The emotions coming off of him were a mix of longing, fear, excitement and lust.

I tipped my glass up to my lips watching him. Usually this was a ritual for me. I didn't do this around others normally if I could get away with it. Monstress was always at the forefront and we liked to consume alone.

With Jasper here? Now. I paid attention to the thrum in my body that started the second I first smelled the blood. I paid attention to Jasper's body and his response.

I was providing for Jasper. I was feeding my mate. I was giving him something he needed. It reminded me of the clip Monstress showed me earlier of the panther providing for us.

My own rumbling purr answered Jaspers as I watched him drink. Although I wanted to drink as well I waited for Jasper to finish first.

As the last drops touched his tongue I had the glass out of his hands and was tipping my glass up to his lips. Eyes locked, I growled at him letting him know I was feeding him and he needed to open his mouth. His eyes were already beginning to swirl with crimson as I tipped the glass further.

His eyes never left mine as he began to drink the elixir. His arms came around me to rest on the counter, caging me in. A small trail dribbled out of his mouth and I was licking it with my tongue before it hit his jaw. I purred and encouraged him to drink more.

Monstress was beside herself. I was going to combust just feeding him. Everything else around us faded away.

When he finished he grabbed me and kissed me. I kissed him back hard but the blood on his tongue made me thirsty, feeling it, Jasper pushed me up against the counter and grabbed the other bags out of the microwave preparing them for me. I watched in rapt attention.

Having the blood flow threw his body his gift became more dominate; I could feel his contentment and anticipation to feed me.

Holding the glass to my lips he purred at me as I had done to him.

Encouraging me to feed.

I opened my mouth, eyes locked on his as I let the blood fill my mouth. I moaned and bucked my hips into his prominent bulge pressed into my sex.

He rubbed back watching me. He purred and projected his contentment at feeding me and me accepting it.

When it was gone he refilled it and repeated the process.

By the time we were done I was a live wire. Jaspers cock was rubbing against me, and I was unashamedly grinding back.

As the glass left my lips, his lips replaced it. His hands slid up my sides and I moaned into his mouth. His answering growl was load and feral.

Our clothes didn't last long. He turned me around his cock at my entrance and he was slamming into me. His teeth at the side of my neck, holding me still, as he thrust quick and hard.

I made somekind of primal guttural noise as his arms wrapped up under my arms and held my shoulders, bending me to his will. My ass jutting back into him keeping pace with his thrusts. His balls slapping my ass as he dove into me over and over.

I dropped my head to the counter; I could feel every inch of him filling me. Stretching me.

So deep.

The sensation from the blood pumping into my veins and him inside me was almost too much. All I could feel was him surrounding me, possessing me.

It didn't take long before we were both approaching our climax. Between the rutting heat and the fresh blood in our bodies sending us to a high of it's own, it was quick, messy and oh so satisfying.

I screamed savagely, my head snapping back, as my walls clenched around Jasper's cock demanding his venom seed. He let go of my neck making a keening noise as he released deep inside me.

We panted hard as Jasper's gently brought us back with slow thrusts. My body a whirlwind of emotions as he lay on my back keeping me trapped with his body.

"I don't think I will ever get used to that." I grunted in agreement. "You feel so fucking good, darlin'. Did you know," Jasper asked conversationally as he laid his forehead on my back, "That large cats mate 50 to 70 times a day?"

I let out a breathy laugh, "I think we hit that mark hours ago," but at the same time I couldn't help being a little shocked at the revelation. I had seen the shadow in his eyes. Of course I knew Monstress represented herself to me as a large cat. She had only shown me yesterday and I filed it away to think about later. I hadn't really the opportunity. Then just an hour ago she showed me a scene of the panther providing for us. I knew instinctually it was Jasper. Life intervened again and I pushed it to the back burner yet again.

A mountain lion and a panther. It would only make sense Jaspers inner beast was also cat. The way Monstress reacted to seeing Jasper and the shadow in his eyes. I hadn't really time to think about it. She recognized Jasper and his inner beast. How was that even possible?

Monstress scoffed at me. I didn't say anything to her, she wasn't very forthcoming with information. As Jasper pulled out of me, I turned around in his arms to face him. I could see his beast in his eyes, as I'm sure he could see Monstress

"_MmaaaTT_e" she said. As if I were stupid for not realizing it sooner. I realized it. Just not to the extent I just caught up to.

"Ok. You've obviously figured this out more than I have. Does… you're beast is he … shit I don't know how to ask this. Does your beast talk to you? Is your inner beast like a separate entity?" I stumbled over my words tying not to make a fool out of myself if I was wrong, and failing miserably.

Monstress was agitated at me and clipped her claw into my head.

Ok so I was being dense. No not dense. Just trying to wrap my head around this.

I only talked to a few people about this. Nevell, who had no clue what I was talking about; he just thought I was crazy and possessed. Charlotte would just smile and wink at me. Peter told me he never heard of anyone having what I hear in my head. So asking Jasper, although I could feel it's truth, I was a little wary. Maybe it was all that hope I had stored up. I hoped Jasper could answer some of my questions, if indeed he had the same correspondence I did. His cat comment was enough to confirm he knew something.

He looked at me intently. Monstress was looking back with the same thrall. I felt like we were in a twilight zone. "Yes." He said slowly. "He's been there since I woke up. I'm not sure… I've grown so used to him. Earlier, I saw the shadow in your eyes. I've never seen that besides with me. My inner beast claimed you, claimed your shadow. I just assumed what I was seeing was something of the same."

I wanted to dance.

"Is it.. does he… has he shown you a representation of himself? Is that why you said the thing about the cats?"

He looked at me warily. "I've never told anyone any of this before." he was hesitant, and I watched the resolve come into his eyes. "I discussed it with Charlotte once asking her if she had something similar. She said no, and I was too afraid of Peter laughing at me to ask him," He took a deep breath and pushed it out slowly. "I woke up with him in my head. I called him The Beast. Later, after I met Peter, he would call me Major not only for my station in the military but who I became when I gave over to my instincts, giving myself to my beast. I don't have a choice most times. To survive what we went through, he took control. I was unstoppable, a monster. I started calling him Major too. He's shown me glimpses of what he would look like if he weren't in my head. At least it's what I take it for."

I smiled so big I thought my face would split. I could get answers. I wasn't alone. How the hell did they get where they are now?

"What did he show you?" I whispered

Monstress scoffed, like it was a dumb question. Ok maybe it was, but I wanted to hear him say it.

"A extremely large black panther." Jasper said and smiled slowly back at me.

"Do you know how he got there? How she got here. No one else I've ever run across has ever heard of such a thing."

"No. In the beginning, I'll be honest, it freaked me out. Through the southern wars I became so reliant on him for companionship and survival," he chuckled, "I stopped questioning it. Will you tell me about yours?"

"I call her Monstress… she showed me a snapshot of herself only yesterday. A large mountain lion." Between the blood, coital bliss and this new information, I felt like I could fly. "Earlier in the tunnel she showed me a glimpse of you providing for us and…" I trailed off. For some reason I didn't want to mention the feeling Monstress had given that we had kits.

Monstress sneezed at me, showing me another snapshot of a regal beasts laying on rock looking over a valley "_uuuussss_" she purred. I could feel her amusement at my elation.

"Monstress?" Jasper's eyes were full of mirth.  
"Well… She owns me in some ways. She was there when I woke up; I fought her a lot for control. She helped me survive. She still helps me survive. She gives me instincts above and beyond a vampire's. So, it's like she's my Monsters Mistress." I was a little sheepish at the admission.

"Monstress." He purred and smiled looking back at her in my eyes.

"So does this mean we're mates, their mates, how did they get there? Are they a part of us? Is this just-" I asked. I had so many questions.

"_UuuuSssss_" Monstress put a claw in my brain. Fuck, that hurts.

Jasper started laughing and held me too him. "I don't know. Major seems to think we're mates. My beast is a part of me, Isabella. I couldn't be happier to have him choose you. I'm sure yours is a part of you as well. I've lived with him for nearly 200 years. He not only knows her but I know you. My body and soul know you. I want to tie you up in a room somewhere and never let you go. I want to know what's going on around here. I'm being pulled in so many different directions at once."

"I don't know how to talk fast enough to tell you everything. We need to get this going actually. There's so much to do." I said. I came back to earth thinking of what we were about to face and the preparations still needing to be made.

"I want to ask you questions about your…Monstress. I want to go with you and help with whatever it is. Figure out what the hell is goin' on around here." He sighed into my hair and kissed my head.

"I know what you mean. I want to answer all your questions. Going to South America wasn't supposed to happen, but it's vitally important we go. Part of this, as I'm sure you know, is the human blood. The giddiness, the high, that's one of the reasons I still take in animal blood too. It brings me down. My gifts go wacky if I take in too much. Not so much wacky, but they consume me if I'm not paying attention. People around here find it funny when I take in too much human blood. But after awhile replacing what I destroy with the telekinesis, gets old." I buried my nose into his neck breathing him in; making myself shut the hell up.

A rumbling broke out from my chest and was answered with Jaspers. He was chuckling at me. Maybe it would be better than I thought. We had a commonality we would build from if nothing else. I knew things could go wrong, but at the moment I just wanted to bask in him.

I don't think Jasper and I were the only ones purring at each other.

Although I had some clarification, I was more confused than ever, and now was not the time for personal reflections. We had shit to do.

I took a deep breath trying to relax myself from my high. The blood pumped through my body making me almost dizzy with satisfaction. Taking my brain in a million different directions.

"I haven't had human blood in 45 years," Jasper said confirming my suspicions. "I always wanted to try it like this, Carlisle working at the hospital would have easy access to it, but they always told me it would make me more unstable around humans, he said it would be stealing from them, and a hundred different reasons. Alice told me I would become volatile and more unstable around humans if I did."

"Well. Alice is a liar." I was quick to bite out. "Let's get that right out in the open right now. We'll deal with that later." I growled leaning back to look at him, his eyes were a swirl of red and gold "Having human blood actually helps being around humans. It's more satisfying, it quenches the thirst more, gives more control over our gifts. I don't see how you all have lived off animal blood for so long."

He gave me an annoyed look. "I lived off it because the alternative was too much for me. Feeling the emotions of those I kill, is not pleasant, even if Major likes it, I don't."

"Right sorry, I just mean I'm surprised is all you don't take donated blood." I tried to correct.

"Carlisle believes it will heighten our blood lust, we would lose control." Jasper reiterated dryly.

I nodded and tried to explain, "Think of animal blood as being a dilutant in our systems. We were once human. When we went through the change the venom ate through the blood provided, feeding off of it. The venom craves blood. Human blood. Our bodies crave it because it's what once flowed in our veins. It's our make-up. Drinking human blood can sustain us; making us stronger because of its enzymes, nutrients, and whatever the hell else is in it. The venom has no choice in what we feed it, but we were never animals. It does the best it can with it, but it never satisfies us. It's not what we are.

Humans are carnivores. Drinking blood from an animals, herbivores at that, is the worst thing you could actually do to your body if you think about it. There's not much sustenance in it, and it's chemically different from us. Drinking from another carnivore is better, but still, it's animal blood. The only way to actually satisfy the venom, or what some call the inner beast, is to drink what we are. Our bodies crave what we once gave it as we changed; it's always looking for more. Does that make sense? I think I should have let Peter explain it. I'm talking in circles." I was exasperated at my own self.

His eyes had widened a little while I rambled. He nodded his head slowly. "That makes more sense than anything I've ever heard, even if you did go in circles, darlin'. So why did they tell me differently? Why doesn't Carlisle know that?"

"Carlisle _does_ know that, he still chooses not to drink human blood. I think he truly believes vampires don't need it, and it's how he was raised as a child and how to think about vampires. I think it has something to do with his father really, but his Daddy issues aren't what are important right now. Remember he's also someone who isn't gifted either. As for Alice… well… it was a way for her to control you, a way to manipulate you. She took away your gift in a sense if you think about it. Your gift is muted, not as controlled or as strong as it should be, not as powerful as you could be. It was easier to fake her emotions around you if she muted you, at least that's part of our theory."

"Which brings us around to the point, you guys have some explainin' to do." he said pushing himself away from me and reaching for our nearly destroyed clothes. "Why do you have her locked up? Edward too? I think it's time for you to explain some of this shit." He turned and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Uh, right." I said grabbing my own clothes. I tried to piece them back together best I could so we could get to our quarters at least attempting to cover the important regions. "I'll show you where you can change," I was leading him out the door before he could argue further.

Showing him his quarters Charlotte designed and stocked for him I went down the hall to mine.

As I entered the large dome shaped room I headed for the far wall leading into another room. My arsenal I collected from Peter's creations were stored in a room all their own, off of my bedroom-sitting room area. Changing clothes, I filled my empty sheaths in my pants, boots and vest. The leather belt I added to my hips held 6 vampire ash-throwing knives. Their handles were made of bone; their double 6-inch blades were sharp enough to cut through any vampire around. The inside of my boots held 2 knives on the inside and 2 on the outside of my thighs. The vest had places across my chest for 3 more. I was loaded down.

Ripping apart a preternatural creature bare handed was hard to do. It took precious seconds that could be used elsewhere. With the knives it was easy to cut off arms, hands, or throw one into an eye here and there, slowing down a vampire or other creature giving you time needed to protect yourself and others.

Vampires have been using hand-to-hand combat for so many centuries; the weapons take them off guard, never expecting something looking liked a human tool to do damage to them. Newborns weren't paying attention anyway. By the time older vampires figured out what you were carrying it was too late. The blades varied in length from 6 inches to 16. I only had one that had a 16-inch blade and it hung on my right hip. It had a curved blade and was made to simply cut off heads. A mini Katana.

Braiding my hair back out of my face I tucked another 2 knives in sheathes made in my vest at the nape of my neck.

After changing quickly I stood in the tunnel waiting for Jasper. I was so used to this drill it was nothing to get geared up. His room sat down a ways from mine. I was hoping he would be sharing mine.

I didn't really even know Jasper. I knew of Jasper of course. I heard plenty of stories over the years, but hearing about someone and knowing someone… two totally different things. Charlotte wanted to design a room for us together, but I had disagreed. Peter and Nevell backed me up. It would be simple to combine rooms if things went well… but taking for granted he was going to stay with me could have been detrimental. Although, I didn't want him to feel rejected either. It was a rock and a hard place.

Now we were off to recover and destroy another lab we didn't have time to even get to know each other.

I had hope though, more so than before. Maybe sharing would come sooner than I hoped for too.

Although we were mated and would never be able physically or psychologically be with anyone else, it didn't mean we were going to be together. It was the end goal of course but we had to like each other first. I liked him just fine… but I had a lot of explaining to do before Jasper even started to trust me let alone like me. I smiled. I think we were well on our way.

Peter came galloping up again and approached me cautiously. I rolled my eyes at him.

"What's up Peter, why do you look like you're going to burst my bubbly atmosphere further?"

"I think you guys should stay." He said all serious.

"What, why?" Oh fuck no.

"Think about it Izzy. There's a lot of shit going on here. Jasper needs to be caught up." he held up his hand as I started to protest. "You guys are new at the whole mate bond thing. Neither of you have seen the other fight; Jasper doesn't know our training or the people we're going to be with when we get there." He gave me a solemn look. "Besides, I just came from the blood room, how are you guys going to fight when you're humpin' all the time?"

"OH, that's what this is? Charlotte cut you off? You know what Peter, don't fuck with me. It's your own damn fault for separating us the way you did. It has nothing to do with this mission. Fucking grow up. I'm going. _We're_ going." I amended as I saw Jasper come out of his room.

I about creamed my pants.

Holy hell that man was fine.

He was dressed in black leather pants and a skintight black t-shirt, but now he had knives and, wow. Just wow. He was hot as hell. He also sported black cowboy boots. He looked like a bad boy biker mercenary.

Oy vey.

Is it fucking hot in here?

"See, you guys are going to be fuckin' like rabbits, we won't get shit done!" Peter whined taking in Jaspers and my reaction at seeing each other.

"Shut up Peter." Jasper's eyes were hooded as he slowly perused my body.

"Oh, hey, Izzy B," Sarah said as she passed us. She was the only one who called me that. When we had been introduced I told her to call me Izzy or B, she replied she couldn't choose and started calling me Izzy B. She was corky and fun to be around, and was probably one of my favorite people. She was part of the Tech team. But as she got a look at Jasper and did a double take, I hissed at her. Quickly turning back her attention to me she said in a rush, "I thought it would be good to get Jasper into the system. I've got it all set up in Mac's place." The control room for communications became Mac's place. It might as well have been his room as much time as he spent in there. Hence Mac's place.

"Oh, yeah, good idea." I said and turned to Peter and Jasper, "We need to get you into the system so you can get in and out of the Security doors and hatches. That'll get you introduced to some of the Tech team too. Then we'll hit the Command Central. I think explaining to you with visuals will be easier than us telling you."

"Oh, Cheese put together a laptop for you guys for on the jet." Sarah said and skittered away after taking one more quick look at Jasper which earned her another hiss.

We started following Sarah down the tunnel and I asked Peter about the Cullens and Emmett and Rosalie.

"Ma and Pa are on their way here. They aint too happy. The dhampirs are gettin' our boy Eddie some food. The ghouls refused. Alice is… let's just say she finally stopped screamin'."

"What did you do, Peter?" Jasper and I asked him at the same time.

He shrugged looking straight ahead, "Nuttin'."

Yeah right.

**A/N**

**Do you guys like longer or shorter chapters? Each chapter seems to grow as I go along. **

**This should've answered some questions and raised some more. lol**

**Still no Alice. She's not happy about being left out. **

**There's some more important stuff going on before we get to her confrontation. **

**I think it's time to clue Jasper in on what's going on. Next chapter will answer some big questions you all have. Bring a lot of the main story to the forefront.**

**Emmett and Rosalie want in on that information as well.**

**Rose might get some use out of Peter's special tools when they get back. Who knows, that woman can be crazy!**

**Thanks again for the reviews and support on this story. I'll start answering reviews soon. It takes me a bit to get used to new things. I mean no disrespect by not answering any one person's reviews. I just don't know what to say mostly. But I read them all and I thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello readers,**

**WARNING : THE BOTTOM HALF OF THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS HORROR FILLED NASTIES! **

**There might be some action of the beatin' the bad guys up, too.**

**I did warn ya there would be horror in this story. I believe this chapter qualifies.**

**Don't read it if you have a weak stomach. **

**You have been warned, no whining.**

**You must be 18 to be reading the M's and this story is an M. **

**Thanks to all for the great reviews, feedback and putting this story on your lists!**

**Love getting and reading them!**

**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight ~ I own this one.**

~Information Skyway Overloud With a Side of Horror~

~Izzy POV~

As we boarded the jet we all settled into seats. Front seating was arranged around the cabin in a somewhat semi-circle of couches and loveseats. It was pretty plain but comfortable.

The wall separating the pilot and us was designed as a video conferencing screen to communicate with the Tech team and receive or upload information we needed to view.

Jamie and her team sat towards the back, where more seats were arranged and space to store their equipment. She usually worked on communicating with Zafrina and our people already on the ground while we traveled. All her electronic equipment was set up back there along with Jeb's when he traveled with us. Usually he was the first to be on the ground. Jamie's team set up and orginzed what they would need when they went in to the Labs. Her team was a conglomerate of vampires, dhampirs and ghouls.

Jasper and I sat next to each other to the right of the door, Peter and Charlotte took seats next to us toward the middle and Emmett and Rosalie sat across from Jasper and I.

Everyone made introductions as we sat chit chatting waiting for the pilots to taxi to the runway. Emmett and Rosalie seemed comfortable with our companions. From what Nevell told me before we left they'd asked everyone they met questions concerning who everyone was. They probably knew more than Jasper did on that front. I felt guilty about it, but he would soon learn. There was nothing I could do about the last 24 hours and the failure to clue Jasper in. We'd been a little busy. I needed to let it go.

Peter and Charlotte, before we even boarded the jet, took on an air of sullenness. The next hours of flight before we landed in Bogotá, Columbia were going to be intense. I believed the true nature of their demeanor was from what would happen once we were on the ground again, rather than the former. These raids were never a party.

"So, _Izzy_," Rosalie started, slurring my name once we were officially in the air. "When are you going to tell us who the hell you talked into changing you?" there was more curiosity than condemnation in her voice. But her bitch attitude was grating never the less. I reminded myself what the hours ahead would hold for her and let it go. Prioritize. No good would come from me decapitating her now.

"I don't know. I don't have memories of who changed me, why or where even. It's one of the great mysteries of our time." I said sarcastically. Peter snickered and Charlotte gave a small smile.

It shut Rosalie up though.

Pissed off vampires on a jet might not have been such a good idea. Looking into Charlotte's eyes I could see I wasn't the only one thinking it. She raised a shoulder in a 'what ya gonna do' gesture. I gave her one back concurring.

"Where the hell are we going anyway?" Emmett asked.

"South America." Answering him and then looking at Peter I asked, "Did Sarah give you the uploaded information for us on the laptop." He nodded his head. "Why don't you hook it up to the TV." He gave me a funny look and Charlotte rolled her eyes at her mate and hooked it up for him.

"Nevell usually does that." Peter pouted.

"I know. It feels weird without him on this flight." I said absently.

"Will someone start giving some non-evasive answers please?" Rosalie snipped.

Peter cleared the venom from his throat garnering everyone's attention.

"Alright. What do you guys know of the Hierarchy of the vampire world?" Peter began.

The three of them gave him blank stares.

Peter just stared back at them. I was the one to roll my eyes at him this time.

"The Volturi are the only Hierarchy I know of." Emmett finally piped up, and the other two nodded their heads.

"I take that as nothing. The vampire world is set up in a pyramids of sorts." I started. Charlotte grabbed the laptop from Peter and handed it to me.

"I was getting there, woman." That earned him a slap to his head. "OH, hell no! Don't let Izzy do this! She'll talk her circles and then we'll all be fuckin' confused!" Peter whined.

The back of the jet snickered turning their heads, Charlotte pressed her lips together, looking at her hands and Peter smiled his shit ass-eating grin. Jasper even chuckled. With a death glare of reproof from me he shut up.

"I see Izzy has released her true talent on the Major. The girl has a mouth on her." Peter guffawed.

Whatever, I wasn't that bad. Or maybe I was. I ignored them all.

Jasper got a salacious grin on his face his eyes became hooded and he looked straight at Peter, "Yeah, she did and yes, she does. You should see what she can do with her tongue."

I stared at him, as did everyone else.

I burst into laughter. Holy hell, I didn't know Jasper had it in him.

Peter sulked. I laughed harder, "You shouldn't remind Peety he aint gettin' any from Char." I mock scolded Jasper.

"What do you mean what she can do with her tongue, how the hell would you know that?" Emmett said lowly. Big brother written all over his face. We all let the laughter die out. I almost laughed at how serious he was.

Rosalie was looking back and forth between the two of us. "Holy fuck no! What the hell! When did that happen?"

"Rose, Emmett. Isabella is my mate." Jasper informed them with an easy smile.

"I thought-" Emmett started his face scrunched in confusion.

"NO. Alice was never my mate. Alice lied about a lot of shit. When the birthday party happened… I knew then, but I denied it. Its part of the reason shit got so fucked up. It's not the time to get into it. Just know Isabella is my true mate." Jaspers voice was a low sexy drawl making me tingle. I shook my head trying to shake it off. Not now. He reached over wrapping his hand around the lower, inside part of my thigh and squeezed sending me a bit of lust. Fucking empath.

I winked back.

"None of this makes any fucking sense." Rosalie huffed as she crossed her arms and glared at me. "If you think you can just come into this family just like that, switching partners and fucking with people you have another thing coming."

I stared at her long enough she started to get uncomfortable. "Rosalie," I said quietly. "I wouldn't want to be part of your family if you gave me every nickel in your bank account and Emmett's. Not even then. Before you start running your mouth, you need to pay attention. I'll go slow for you."

"Japer is part-!" she started to lunge for me before Emmett grabbed her and held her down giving me a look I couldn't decipher.

"Jasper's MINE!" I growled, Monstress peered out of my eyes at our threat.

"We're in a plane, baby, just calm down and listen." Emmett soothed her.

Jasper hissed under his breath and sent me a shot of lust. I glanced at him. He and Major were extremely happy with our claim. That's all that mattered.

"Let's get started shall we." Peter said breaking up the tension.

I turned back to the screen clicking through what I wanted, as I calmed down. I put the names of the Power 8 on the screen, ignoring the death glare I was getting.

"Like I said, the hierarchy is built on a pyramid. These," I nodded to the screen, "are the hierarchy of the vampire world otherwise known as the Power 8. All you need to remember right now is the Volturi, Eleazar, Vladimir and Stefan, and Zafrina.

"Eleazar Line," I switched to his Line, "is extensive. He has thousands of Vampires he's responsible for. There's a chain of command. His Seconds in command are Tanya, Kate, Garret, Irina, and Carmen. Carmen is more a first. If anything happened to Eleazar, being his mate Carmen would step into the head role. It branches out from there. You guys are in his Line as you can see."

"How is that possible? He was with the Volturi not long ago, how can he have thousands of vampires under him?" Rosalie asked studying the Eleazar's Line.

"He _was _with the Volturi. Over 2,000 thousand years ago, he defected taking some vampires with him and built his Line, he's been a Power 8 for more than 1,800 years." I was met with stares of disbelief. "The older vampires look at centuries as decades. Time means little to them when they make references to the past.

The Power 8 rule over the vampire world. Checks and balances. Each Head of the pyramid is responsible for their own branch. If something goes wrong, they're held accountable. Say if Edward were to do something to bring attention to himself or to the vampire world, then it would be Carlisle's responsibility to take care of it, to punish him. If he didn't or refused and the problem continued then Eleazar or one of his seconds would step in and take care of it. Usually resulting in death. Not only Edward but also Carlisle's whole branch. There wouldn't be anyone left alive to seek retribution for the sentencing. Same would go for any of the Power 8, they keep each other in Line."

"Is it windy in here?" Peter asked looking around for a draft and giving me a smug smile. Fucker. I didn't think I was going overboard with this.

I flipped him off and continued. "The Power 8 keeps control over the vampire world, but it doesn't mean there aren't lesser or smaller Lines out there. They're just not as influential, powerful or large. They keep pretty quiet. There are many who have tried to start their own large Lines. Usually when it happens, however, it doesn't go too well, for several reasons. One, they usually don't have enough trusted followers, power, trust or resources to take care of a Line by themselves. They end up being over powered by younger more ambitious or greedy vampires. When this happens one of the 8, or the one they emancipated themselves from, if you will, steps in and takes care of the situation, which is to say they annihilate the entire Line.

The other reason, some of the Power 8 don't like competition. They nip it in the bud before anyone can become anything. There are however successful smaller ones; they're just few and far between like I said."

"But the Volturi are like the Kings of everyone, right?" Emmett asked.

Turning to Emmett I answered, "No. The Volturi are only one of the Power 8. I know from stories Edward told me, he made it appear they were the ultimate Rulers. I wasn't sure if it was just the story he gave me or if you all believed it. I see it's the latter." I let out a sigh. I couldn't believe how much these people had been lied to.

"How is it we never knew about this? We've been to see the Denali clan many times over the last 70, 80 years I've been with the Cullens. Eleazar would have said something, hell any of 'em would have. Carlisle's never said a word. I've never heard 'em talk about it either." Jasper said.

"Yeah, Izzy, I've never heard of this shit before." Emmett said and Rosalie shaking their heads.

"Well. For one Carlisle's actually one of the few defectors from the Volturi. He asked Eleazar for the safety within his Line. There's a lot of bad blood between the two powerhouses. Eleazar took pity on Carlisle. We believe their mutual diet, both being defectors from the Volturi, they've bonded. For reasons you will find out later, you'll understand why Carlisle never speaks of his time with the Volturi. As for him not telling you, I honestly don't know. I would say it's a control thing. For Eleazar I would imagine he left it in the hands of Carlisle. "

Jasper turned to Peter, "Did you hear any of this while we were in the South?"

"No, but think about what we were doing and who we were doing it for. Once we got out I barely ran into anyone. Those we did we avoided. What about you?" he asked, Jasper was shaking his head. Turning he address Emmett and Rosalie, "You guys were sired by Carlisle, ya'll 'ave isolated yourselves from the human drinkin' vamps, do you ever talk to a lot of vamps out there?" They both shook their heads.

"Charlotte and I only first heard of it only when we met Nevell. He filled us in on Carlisle, Eleazar and then the rest. You know Char and I 'been layin' low for years. We don't bother 'nobody, nobody bothers us. We've kept to ourselves for decades. Wonderin' 'round.

Nomads we met along the way were never ones to ask questions. Politics is somethin' you stay away from. Being an escapee from the south puts you in a fickle spot ya know? Ya' keep to ya'self let others keep to themselves. Ya' don't want to run into someone and get to talkin' and realize the vampire you're talkin' to knows Maria. No one ever asked us what Line we're from.

We've never met Eleazar. You and the Cullens mentioned 'em in passin'. If you mentioned us to them, it wouldn't seem strange there was no mention of a Line. Vampires escapin' from the south are few and far between and the ones who do are left to their own devices unless they ask to be in someone's Line for protection sake. Doesn't happen too often if ever from what we've learned since. You were already in Carlisle's Line, so Eleazar just let it go more than likely thinkin' you asked Carlisle to be in his Line along with Alice.

So yeah, when Nevell starts tellin' us about the vampire hierarchy, we were just as confused as ya'll." Peter finished quietly.

I clicked the screen showing them the Volturi line, letting them soak it in for a few minutes and then flipping to Vladimir's Line. I skipped ahead to Zafrina's Line.

I stopped there and looked at the room.

"Zafrina is one of the Power 8. She is very powerful. She's only ruled over her Line for around a thousand years or so making her one of the newest in her position. But she's at least 3,000 years old. Being born in Brazil, she's been where she is for centuries. She took over her Line when her Sire and Line head was killed. Her people under her are very loyal.

We were going through chain of command when we first met Zafrina, trying to get to Huilen, letting her know we were in her neck of the woods and looking for information about him. We found she was already at a war with Huilen."

I looked up and realized Emmett and Rosalie were clueless.

"Huilen's a defector from the Vulturi Line, one who created his own Line. He's a fucking arse. The Amazon is vast and although it holds a large number of vampires, it also has a lot of places to hide Labs, which I'll explain here shortly. When we told her what we were after, she was more than happy to provide information. For several different reasons.

Huilen came into her territory causing problems; she's been trying to get a handle on him for years. She's tired of cleaning up his messes and she wants him dead, but hasn't been able to catch the fucker." I all but growled the last part, and heard mutual hisses throughout the cabin. I also saw a couple of confused faces.

"Another reason she wanted to help is this; in 1640 a group of vampires showed up in Mexico and Central America, causing havoc. They took over claiming it as theirs. There really wasn't anyone there; it was free land sorta speak. For the first few decades' things were quiet. Then slowly they started creeping down south into Zafrina's territory. Zafrina basically ran them off. There were a couple of big battles and the invaders backed off.

This started them building a large army of newborns, causing all kinds of uproar and terror. The leader of the chaos came to be known as the Mistress of the South. The Mistress was born in the 1560's in France. She terrorized and made trouble for a lot of vampires and humans before her drifting days finally found her in Central America. Her escalation there eventually caught the eye of the Volturi. They stepped in and took care of the newborns almost wiping them all out. The Mistress was merely slapped on the wrist, which is unheard of, and told not to do it again. The Mistress disappeared for the next 160, 170 years, leaving her title Mistress of the South to her predecessor, who came to rule over Mexico and parts of the US. She didn't pop back up until the 1940's or so in Philadelphia." I felt Jasper stiffen beside me and turned to stare at me. I nodded my head at him slowly.

On the screen in front, I flipped to the short but prominent Line for Alice, I never took my eyes off of Jasper as he turned his eyes from mine and looked at the screen.

"Alice Brandon AKA Mary-Alice Bysshop the true Mistress of the South. Victoria, James, Laurent and Maria's sire." I said quietly. I knew what the graph looked like by heart. There were red lines through the first 3 names, but underneath was Maria's empire she created with the help of Alice. It was much more advanced from what Peter and Char tell me than it was when they left. They now controlled Texas all the way to Central America again. Eleazar kept them contained to the lower half of Texas, but just barely.

The cabins air was extremely tense and full of conflicting emotions Jasper was projecting.

Silence.

No one was breathing.

We waited.

I was afraid for the jet. I wondered idly if we could survive the impact or blow to the fuselage. If Jamie's team could survive the impact. Or if we grabbed some of them, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. If we could get to them in time. I looked up and my eyes wondered to the back to the 9-member clean-up team. Jamie was looking back at me with a small grin. Maybe knowing what I was thinking.

I finally steeled myself and looked at Jasper again. He was staring at the names on the wall still. His face stone cold. His eyes were shadowed with Major. Hands fisted on the arm of the chair. Nostrils flared.

"Jasper…" I heard Charlotte's small alto voice whisper.

Jasper's head whipped to look at her, having a silent conversation with her and Peter. Charlotte and Peter's faces both were ones of understanding.

Jasper started shaking his head.

"What…"he choked. "This whole… my whole life has been nothing but a fucking lie!" He roared.

My heart broke. Holy hell. He put pieces together fast. I would rather deal with the violent rage of destruction than the words he spit forth. He was here on this jet above the clouds and being told his life, for the most part, was a fucking lie set up by a woman who manipulated him for almost 200 years. His entire existence as a vampire. Fuck I wanted to hit something for him. I wanted to kill someone. His rage I realized was filling the cabin.

Note to self; don't give devastating news on jet plane again. If he had been told back at the compound, he probably would've killed Alice before we got answers. Hell, with the rage he was shovelin' any of us would have. I saw all of us with our hands fisted as we rode the current of emotions swirling around the cabin of the jet. I clenched my eyes shut and reached for Monstress to help to calm down. Center myself so I could maybe share it with Jasper. She was growling low and digging her claws into my skull. The feel of wanting to protect Jasper was overwhelming. She helped me shut out his rage and push out calm. I could feel her wanting me to look at Jasper, but I didn't dare loose my sense of gravity right now.

My eyes popped open granting her wish as he grabbed me and forced me to sit in his lap facing him. He shoved his face in the crook of my neck and breathed deeply. I embraced him back, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"OUuuurrrRRSsss" Monstress whispered from my lips to his ear. Reassuring him.

He tightened his hold at my purr. "Don't move." He said his voice a mere growl. "If you move I may kill someone." His arms locked tightly too me.

I didn't move. I continued to purr.

We sat like that for what seemed hours. Not even Rose spoke a word. She and Emmett living through their own grief and betrayal as well as Jasper's. I can only imagine what thoughts were racing through all of their heads.

We just kidnapped them yesterday. I told them some of the Cullens are bad. Alice and Edward. Alice can see the future and Edward can read minds. They were all left in the dark while the people around them played games and herded them where they wanted them to go. Edward would know what Alice knew. Edward knew what Jasper went through in his life. Edward knows who Alice is and what she's been up to. Edward never said a word. Alice lied to all of them. Edward betrayed them. Alice shang-highed them. She lied about who, where and how she came to their doorstep. About being Jasper's mate. She was Maria's sire. She had been James, Victoria and Laurent's sire. Edward and Alice. Alice.

Jasper's hoarse whisper broke through the thick air. "Do you know if she saw me before Maria changed me?"

I took in huge breath and released it bracing myself. "We can't be a hundred percent positive about it. We believe so. We know people who've known Alice since she changed. According to them, she told them about you before your change. We believe -."

"Don't. Don't fucking say it." he hissed into my neck.

His arms were crushing as he held me and shook with emotions. They went through him so fast I couldn't keep up. Skin contact and the mating bond was doing me in.

The implications of the information given hung in the air suffocating all of us. Alice had known and used Jasper for her war. That was bad enough. Alice, who took him away from it all to 'help' him was actually the one who put him there to begin with. Fucked with him and then took him and fucked with him some more. She had Maria change him, and then acted the savior. Showing him a new life, but she basically took his gift away from him so it was easier to manipulate him. Dress him. Tell him what his life was like now. Dictate to him. Control him. Lie to him and told him she was his mate. Tried to kill his true mate. Spun web after web after web…

My mind spun in circles.

And to think… they didn't even know about Carlisle yet. What would their world be like then? I left out his name when I mentioned Huilen on purpose.

It took years to put pieces together. It took only an hour to relay the results and crush my mate.

I held it down. Swallowed it. It wasn't mine to cry for. It wasn't mine to be outraged at right now. It was his. It was theirs. I needed to focus.

Jasper and I just held onto each other and I tried to keep my emotions as calm as I could. He hadn't thrown any of us out of the jet so I felt a little high from the relief coming with that revelation.

The jet landed re-fueling. No one made a move to leave. We all sat quietly until we were back in the air.

"Why didn't you guys tell us sooner?" Emmett finally asked.

"We couldn't. Not without gettin' ya'll and a bunch of others killed in the process." Char answered.

"What? Why would we have been killed?" Rosalie cautiously asked. There was no snarkiness in her voice anymore.

" 'Cause if we went to anyone with this, to tell Carlisle he was harborin' the Mistress of the South, he woulda' had to do somthin' 'bout it. He woulda' told Eleazar, and Eleazar would a' sentenced Alice and Jasper to death. Jasper bein' in 'er line an' all. That woulda' started a war with Maria and the Volturi. Alice got 'erself someone there that's 'er sire, or the true head a' 'er line, or a contact that's pullin' strings." Peter told them. His southern twang front and center with his emotions.

"Then there's Izzy." Charlotte added quietly, "When they find out Alice sent people in to kill 'er and the wolves, Laurent and Victoria's death 'ill be found out. Irina would kill ya' all just for leavin' Izzy alive forcin' Alice to send someone in to kill 'er."

"Why would Alice want to kill B?" Emmett chirped bewildered. It sounded like he was having a hard time putting Alice's identities together. The loving sister he knew and the bitch who destroyed.

" 'Cause she knew Izzy is Jasper's real mate." Peter said like duh.

"Oh, fuck," Emmett let the air out of his lungs.

Jasper's death grip on me was a comfort and torture. I knew it was killing him not to be able to be physically violent. Couldn't give his inner demons a release they needed. Yeah, telling him on a jet was a bad idea.

I talked to Nevell before I left making sure he was ok with this, asking his opinion on telling everyone in the air. I seriously considered Peter's request to stay, telling them all after the team left. But Nevell refused to come when I approached him. He said the three of them needed to see first hand what was going on. That was more important than him going this time. He said I owed him though. I laughed at that. He owed me so many it wasn't even funny.

Finally, Peter spoke up breaking into the tension filled atmosphere again.

"We're going to be landing in a few of hours. We need to debrief and prepare for what we're going to be headin' into."

Jasper grunted in acknowledgement but didn't move, after a couple of minutes Peter started talking again.

"Like you were told earlier, Zafrina's been fighting with Huilen for years. He's a sneaky little bastard.

Back in the early to mid 1400's-" I turned my head to Peter, Jasper growled at me, but I able to catch Peter's eye, a moment of communication let him know not to bring in certain names. We didn't need to push Jasper or the others over the edge. We could answer questions later and then give them the next blow. Peter winked and kept talking.

"The Volturi put together a team of scientists. They wanted a look into vampire make-up and come up with super vampires. Or anything that would enhance the Volturi Guard. They were supposed to find out if it was possible to find humans with latent talents. As years went by they became more adventurous as technology wasn't great but advancing. They stole humans and vampires. When it became obvious taking vampires was high risk, they started making the vampires themselves. They could take them apart once they woke up and the newborns couldn't fight back." Peter lost his accent to tell them all this.

"Over the centuries they got bolder and let's just say it's above and beyond the original intent. The experiments began to take on a whole new dimension.

In the mid 1600's during the black plague they were able to steal countless humans. From what we understood they kept them alive for years in secluded Labs. These Labs started popping up all over Europe, Turkey, and Mongolia. Russia got wind of it and started doing their own experiments, or maybe they already had been and just stepped up their game.

In the time of the Black Plague in Europe two of the scientists for the Volturi discovered a way to make another species. You all know what newborns are like. They're bloodlust is through the roof and they're unstable when they come out of the change. They don't know their own strength, names or what's happenin' to them.

By incapacitating the newborns they were able to experiment on them. Our eyes are red when we wake up from left over blood in our systems. From trial and error they found out not only do we have blood left in our systems, but also males may bring over live human sperm with them. Woman's eggs, from what we've heard don't make it through the change. You can use your imagination. They implanted the sperm into human females and viola, they have dhampirs."

"You mean… you mean vampires can have babies?" Rose her voice filled with awe and pain.

"Yes. The male sperm can be implanted into human woman. If the sperm doesn't destroy the egg, gestation is only a few months. The human female doesn't make it through the birthing process, however. The little vampire is stronger than the human by far and tears through the womb when it's ready to come into this world."

"Holy mother of …." Rose and Emmett said together.

"Dhampirs were born. I know you guys have been talking to them, so you know some of the stuff. They have heartbeats. But they're just as strong as a Vampire. They don't sparkle, can pass as human, have tough skin, fast but without the endurance, they bleed venomy blood, eat human food as well as drink blood and it's harder to reattach parts when they get taken off. They don't come back from decapitation."

Jasper hadn't moved. But I knew he was listening.

Silence descended on us again for a while. I prayed even if Rosalie put the dots together she wouldn't ask.

"See so, here's the thing. The Russians came up with their own preternatural beings. Somewhere, somehow, someone tracked a few ghouls down. By taking a ghoul heart putting it in a human mixing in some vampire blood, you end up with a ghoul. They usually lock the human in an enclosed dark place underground until they 'rise'. Gestation can be anywhere from a month up to 6 months. They're preternaturally fast, heightened senses, they have no heartbeats, but they do have flowing blood, if an appendage gets cut off they can grow it back. They don't recover from decapitation. And they have no scent."

"Holy hell." Rosalie said.

Emmett snorted. "Understatement."

"From what we were aware of, before a couple hours ago, ghouls were isolated to Russia. From what our Intel told us, what we're walking into today is both." Peter finished.

"Holy mind fuck." Emmett exclaimed jumping up to pace. "Who the fuck is doing all this shit? How did.. where did you guys… holy mind fuck." He stumbled out.

"Why are we here? What do you want us to do?" Rosalie asked quietly.

"Well. We've taken down 9 labs total. This will be 10. We brought you so you could see what's going on in your world. What we're going to walk into is going to be crazy and horror filled.

What we've found in all the labs are survivors. Now look. Most of what you'll see isn't salvageable or anything. Most of what we will find today is something we have to destroy. We go through take any evidence they have, computers, papers and the like. We take any of the survivors that are… salvageable and take them to a set up Zafrina has. From there Zafrina takes care of them.

The rest, what's not recognizable, we light on fire. We tried to keep some of the guards and what have you the first few times, but it didn't work out. We found that it's not possible. We do take the scientists and guards that survive our attack and question them. Anyone lookin' like a scientist or what have you, try to keep alive. I'll give you some stuff to help you." Peter told them.

"There's shifters, too." I added.

"They have the wolves down here?" Emmett asked appalled.

"Well, no. The wolves aren't the only shifters in the world. There are large cat shifters, bears, and hyenas to name a few. They're pretty hush-hush in the big picture of things. There aren't very many. They've only recently been being found and brought to these labs. As far as we know. Just like everything else, once the vampires doing this find something new to play with they take what they can, nothing is sacred."

"I won't be able to kill animals ever again." Emmett shuddered. "That sucks, I liked bear."

"Just ask it before you eat it if it can change or forever hold its peace." Peter snarked.

Emmett was looking at his hands and just nodded his head absently. Poor Emmett.

"What you guys are about to walk in on is not pretty. It's down right horrible. We couldn't possibly say enough to ever prepare you for your first time. Or your only time if the case may be. It's a horror show. The smell is beyond comprehension. The torture, unfathomable. Emotional warfare. There is not one person here who would look down on ya' for not wanting to go in. Ya' don't have to. Ya' can sit out if ya' want. Once ya' see what you're going to see, there isn't a way to forget it. So think before ya' answer." Charlotte told them.

"I'm going in." Jasper bit out. "I want to know. I need to know." As Peter talked, telling them what was going on, Jasper's emotions were slowly disappearing. He was gaining control over himself. Tucking his new found information away for later.

I nodded my head and tried to make my emotions emulate the gratitude I felt. He squeezed me harder letting me know he understood.

Emmett was quiet looking at his hands. He looked up at his wife and mate, reaching for her hand holding it in his he spoke quietly to her, "I'll do what you want Rosie. I'll go whichever way you want."

Rosalie looked over at him and for a long time they stared at each other. Silently communicating.

"I want to see Emmett, I'm with Jasper, I have to." She said with as much conviction as she could.

He gave a shaky nod once and turned to all of us. "We're in."

I looked back at Jamie catching her eye I glanced back at the backroom and then back at her. She understood and nodded her head.

As we landed I held onto Jasper and told him to sit still a minute. After everyone was off the jet I led him back to the back and gave him a packet of blood. He looked at me gratefully and drank it down. We stayed until his euphoria was gone and then he fed me one. I didn't need it, but Jasper needed me to. So I did.

Emmett and Rosalie would have to eat somewhere before we got there. Emmett could eat anaconda. Peter and Charlotte, I knew, fed before we left. I wasn't in the mood to explain to Emmett and Rosalie about human blood. Even if Emmett was freaking out about killing animals now.

The jet had landed right before midnight. Before getting on the choppers, we all put our face and body paint on and geared up.

Jamie provided clothes for Emmett and Rosalie to wear from the stash we carried with us on the jet. I gave Rosalie 2 of my knives. Emmett took 2 of Peter's and then he gave them vamp-ash bindings and told them what they were and how to use them both. They looked like black leather rope coiled in loops so you could put them on break-away straps on the back of your belt. The break-away strap was there in case someone other than you grabbed it and tried to pull you around with it. Emmett was stoked. Rosalie looked impressed and skeptical.

There was a quiet over all of us, sending chills up my spine. We knew what we were most likely to walk into, and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were trying to prepare for what they would see for the first time.

Charlotte got our COM links out and handed them to all of us. She explained to Emmett and Rosalie how to put them in. We gave them old ones we had. They looped over the ear to hold it into place. She showed them how to turn them on and off.

While Jasper was in Mac's place getting linked to our security system, I pierced his ear. Charlotte handed him a new COM link and showed him how it worked. By securing it in your ear with the back piece activating it, you could then turn it back and forth effectively turning it on and off. Handy little buggers.

I explained my inferred to them. I would be doing a check of the inside before we entered and they needed to know what I was saying to all of them.

"So that's your gift? That's pretty cool." Emmett grinned at me.

"Well one of them." I said.

"One of them? What else can you do?" he made me laugh with his enthusiasm.

I decided to show him instead. Taking the binding now looped into their belts I grabbed Emmett's and quickly tied his feet together bringing them together as fast and hard as I could. Emmett actually hit the deck on his ass.

"What the fuck!" as he struggled looking down at his feet. Peter guffawed as Emmett tried to get free. Laughing myself I untied him and dangled the binding in front of him in the air.

I didn't move.

"What the hell was that?" He looked up at me. "Did you do that? Are you... whaoooo." he looked up at us all and stood up brushing himself off.

"Yah, I have a little telekinetic thing going on." I gave him a toothy smile. Char scoffed.

"Holy fuck, that's cool as hell. Just, don't do that again, I thought I was going to have a heart attack." He said.

We all laughed.

I took the 3 talismans I brought and I walked over to Emmett and held one up.

"What's this? Some kind of 'member of the tribe' thing?" Emmett chuckled as he lowered his head so I could put the leather necklace on him.

"Funny you should say that," I winked at him. "In a way, yes, we're going to be separated," as I stepped to Rosalie and held up the second one, "The fortress at home is surrounded by these and if you noticed a lot of people wear them individually." She actually let me put it on her without a fight. She lifted it to look at.

"What is it?" was all she asked. I tried to hold the shock off my face.

"It's a talisman," I slipped one over Jasper's head.

The 3-inch carved wooden cylinder hung on his chest before he too picked it up to look at.

"They're talismans the Quileute wolves provide us. Victoria let it be known Alice couldn't see the wolves. I've worn the claw Jacob got ripped off him around my neck ever since. These were made later by the tribe, once it was known we needed to hide more than just me. They even came up with a ceremony for it. Each wooden piece is carved and hollowed out and then the shifters fill it with their blood over and over letting the wood soak it up until it can't hold anymore and then they cork it off. The tribal Chief blesses them. Whoever wears one, blinds Alice to them. She can't see you. Although she's rather incapacitated at the moment, this is tradition, we all wear them on raids and this is no different."

"That's amazing." Emmett said looking at the detail of the carving. Each one represented a wolf in a some way.

"And this works? Wow. I wish had one of these a long fucking time ago." Rosalie awed muttered voice surprised me. She was actually going to wear it even though it smelled slightly of wet dog. I smiled.

The three finished inspecting them and then tucked them into their clothing.

Jasper merely pulled me too him and kissed my temple. I looked up at him and smiled.

We transported our haul to the choppers waiting for us and we set off to the coordinates Mac sent us.

Deep into the waiting Amazon.

Mac gave us satellite pictures of the facility we went over before landing the jet. There were no blueprints. Usually the places were so obscure and out in the middle of nowhere, disguised as something else, blueprints didn't help anyway if they were existent at all. The upper portions were set up as research facilities, while the belly of the place held the horror.

This structure, hidden in the Amazon, wasn't very big. It sat in the middle of a clearing about a quarter mile from a fence, which encompassed the main building.

Satellite images showed guard stations at the entrance and back exit of the property. Vehicles parked in the south lot in back of the building with larger equipment to the east. The heavy equipment looked to be dump trucks and a front-end loader.

We propelled from the chopper dropping down around 50 miles from the north gate.

Emmett and Rosalie both conquered and drank anaconda on the way in. I knew from Nevell they asked about our hunting habits, I was surprised neither one mentioned anything about Jasper's eyes. Peter clued them in when Jasper and I stayed on the jet after they all got off. Yet they didn't say anything. I was grateful, it was one less thing Jasper had to deal with.

I was beginning to hope for friendships to be formed out of this. Maybe they could or would join my family.

We began to smell the foulness in the air as we got closer. It saturated our surroundings, crept into our nostrils and made you want to gag. I knew it would get worse as we got closer. Even though we were in the middle of the Amazon, the closer we got the more the sounds of the forest drifted away.

The smell of death and wrongness kept even them at bay. A light drizzle dripped from the canopy dampening the stench, adding muskiness to the already overpowering scents.

6 miles from the sight, we met up with Jeb's team.

"What you got for us?" Peter asked Jeb.

"There're 12 vampire guards. 2 at front entrance, 2 at the guard station. Same as the south side of the building. 2 vehicles holding 2 each patrol the outer perimeter. They come within about a mile of us on the access roads. They've made no indication they've seen us. Between the stench and most of us not having a scent they haven't detected us. We've watched people come and go. The ones who came out we've trailed and Z's people are on them. They'll move on the ones who didn't come back when we go in."

"Izzy, what do you see?" Charlotte asked.

"Nothing from here, it's really fucking dense. We need to go tree side." I replied.

"Where's your team Jeb?" Jasper asked Jeb in a voice I hadn't heard him use yet. I understood it for what it was. Major was out, the warrior Jasper is took center stage. Monstress responded.

Monstress knew what we were walking into. She was overly quiet on the trip down here. I didn't push her. I could feel her excitement however that was linked with Jaspers. She was anticipating going in there with him.

"We're in 2's around the perimeter, this side of the access roads." Jeb told him without hesitation.

Jasper nodded.

Peter spoke up then. "Izzy you and Jasper stick together, show Jasper our guys, Emmett and Rosalie you go with Jamie, do the same." As Peter gave the rest of the orders I looked over at Jasper.

His eyes were lit with Major. He was geared up. I could tell he didn't want me going in there, but knew this is something I had done before. I trained for shit like this. We all did. I raised an eyebrow at him. I saw the acceptance in his eyes, and then he shot his eyes skyward and back to me.

Go time. We all turned our COM links on. Nodding I leapt from my crouched position as Peter gave his go.

Jasper and I flew through the trees side by side.

As we got closer I pointed to my eyes and then down, indicating to Jasper our guys on the ground. Jasper acknowledged them and we kept going. Ghouls don't have a smell. Which is opposite of what you would think. Dhampirs smell more human than they do vampire. It confuses your senses.

The stench in the air only grew stronger concealing their presence and ours as we came closer to the Lab.

I could see our group's shadows in the dark night in the treetops leaping closer and closer to our targets. Mac came on COM to Peter just then, telling him communication was cut off to the building. I thought Jasper was going to miss the next tree.

I tried to hold my snicker. I did. He heard it and scowled at me. It was so fucking quiet and having someone suddenly talk in your ear isn't the most pleasant thing. At least he didn't make a sound. I got control of myself and turned to look at the lab. We were on the edge of the tree line around 50 yards now from the lab. We were well inside the fence line.

I sobered and let Monstress come to the forefront. Letting her guide me with her instincts. I felt her fur skim the inside of my skin letting me know she was attuned and ready.

I switched to infer-red.

"_Izzy, inside, over_." Peter whispered at me.

"Inside east of door, 3 dhampirs, 3 vampires. West hallway to south, 3 vamps. Hold, Over" I whispered.

I looked at Jasper and pointed to the west we leapt across 5 more trees, and I took another look to make sure I was getting them all, "Southwest corner, cluster, another 8 vamps and 5 dhampirs large room. Over."

"_Copy. Ghouls?_" Peter asked.

I hesitated, "6, heavily shadowed. Could be more. In west hall and back room, Over." Telling Peter they were heavily shadowed would let him know I was having a hard time picking them out amongst the dark shadows. They showed up as black silhouettes and if they didn't move it was easy to miss them.

"_On mark and.-_" Peter said.

"Hold." I whispered. "3 vamps came up from below, east hall moving south."

"_Copy_." Everyone said.

"_On mark_," Peter whispered.

I took off back to the east about ten trees before looking back at Jasper. He nodded.

"Mark." I whispered.

"_Mark_." Japer breathed.

The rest 'marked' off as we gained our positions.

"_Go_," Peter said.

I sprang from my tree landing silently, Jasper went right I went left blurring across the empty lot. As I approached I withdrew the mini Katana sword from my right hip. The two guards were facing each other standing in front of the building gossiping. I left the sword across my body, resting the back of its blade on the outside of my right shoulder.

They didn't see us coming until it was too late. I plunged into the air gunning for my guard, making myself known.

A black blur in the night.

Before the guard facing me could do more than drop his mouth open, Jasper swung his sword decapitating him. I grabbed the guard closest to me by the hair as I descended in the air and swung my sword back across me and through his neck killing the scream in his chest. His head hit the ground with a whomp as I let go.

Three seconds of playtime at best from Peter's Go.

It happened simultaneously. It was perfect. Monstress rolled her fur against my inner skin in success.

Then I heard a thump. I crouched looking into the night back the way we had come, seeing a blue glow of a vampire head. I switched my sight and stood looking at Jasper with a raised an eyebrow. He looked down at the sword, out at the head, back to me, shrugged, and then smiled a toothy grin. I think he likes the sword. Needed to tone it down some, but who's complaining?

The guy's head had sailed across the lot about 35 feet from us.

I smiled. Throwing the other head to join its partner, we made quick work of the hands and feat and they joined the heads.

Another great thing about vamp-ash knives and swords? The only sound they make as they slipped into vampire flesh was a small snuffing noise. A noise no one would recognize or pay attention to.

Two of the team, Max and Bryan, joined us then having taken care of the guards at the gate, as we approached the door.

Jasper hand signaled what he wanted done next and we all nodded our agreement.

Jasper walked through the door first like he owned the place, sword in hand. As he sauntered in the inhabitants standing around talking twisted to look at him. I shadowed him in, the other 2 stayed behind us on either sides of the door, blurring in as Jasper and I took action.

One of the dhampirs started to speak as he registered what he was seeing and moved toward us, followed by the others. I leapt straight in the air over Jaspers head wrenching my arms up over me to my throwing knives on my back, letting them rip through the air. One caught the closet dhampir in the throat, cutting him off mid-rant, as blood sprayed. The second knife caught the dhampir next to him in the eye, hilt deep, he died instantly.

As the knives found purchase I was already moving forward, grabbing the knife lodged in the dhampirs throat twisting and ripping it out sideways halfway decapitating him. Blood spayed as his life force was taken from him.

Jasper was moving before the blades left my hands; he took one vampire down with the katana as he plugged the dhampir with a knife in his left hand in the side of the neck ripping forward severing his carotid artery and windpipe.

Max and Bryan rushed the other 2 vampires taking off their heads easily.

We could hear 3 guards in the right hall coming at us. I blurred behind the guard station to the corner of the wall near the entrance to the hall. Max and Bryan couched in preparation. As the vampires came flying into the room I took out the closest to me with a forward swing of the katana, now in my right hand. He was headless before he could register what was in the room.

The other two vamps split, one at Jasper and one for Bryan. Max took off down the hall as they cleared it chasing after one of the ghouls I saw earlier I presumed.

Jasper let him come; at the last second he sidestepped and swung the sword cutting his head off. Quick and easy. The head hit the hall wall 15 feet away leaving a hole before bouncing off and plopping to the floor. He really should tone it down.

Bryan took off the others head at the same time with a blade to the neck. He followed Max down the hall after making sure we were good. Jasper joined me as we blurred to the left hall.

3 ghouls met us as we came around the corner. I hadn't switched back to infer-red. I doubt I would've seen them anyway with all the shadows in here. Taking the handle of the sword I rammed it into the first ghouls face breaking his nose, I leapt up and giving a solid kick to the solar plexus of the female ghoul behind him. Taking the bindings I tied them up simultaneously. Jasper took his with a roundhouse then tying her as well, we propped them on the Far East wall. We would save talking for later.

As we finished, Rosalie and Emmett walked down the hall, having taken care of the 3 vampires I saw earlier coming up from the basement. Emmett looked high off his ass from the fight, Rosalie looking smug.

Peter with the rest of the teams were finishing up at the end of the right hall leading to the lab. He told us the upper lab was secure.

"Going down Peter" and I looked at Jasper as we met Rosalie and Emmett at the door to the stairs leading down.

"_Copy. Jamie, Catniss, and Gabriel Go with 'em. Jeb, check perimeter with 2 of your guys. Over_." Peter directed.

They all replied with 'Copies' as we headed down.

I couldn't see anything and indicated as much to Jasper. He nodded as I took the lead. At the bottom of the stairs were double steel doors. I could see down a long wide corridor beyond it checking with my other eye sight, vampires coming and going paid no attention they heard anything happening above their heads. It felt off. I indicated to Jasper as much blinking back to normal.

Looking behind me as Jamie and the others joined me on my wall, Emmett and Rosalie stood behind Jasper. I held up 4 and then 5. There were at least 9 stationary vampires in the hall, presumably guards. Jasper and the others nodded. Gabriel and Catniss came forward to take out the doors. On count they pushed forward ripping the doors off the hinges, flinging them to the sidewall, we blurred into the hall.

As the doors came off, alerts of warnings sounded from the vamps.

They'd been stationary, but they were prepared for us. As I got to the first door Gabriel and Catniss already passed, on my right, not even 10 feet inside, it slammed opened, as did a door directly across from me and 2 other doors on either side the corridor another 10 ft further down. Gabriel and Catniss I registered were taking on the other vamps coming at us.

I can only describe as a giant stepped in my path. At least 7 ft tall and Hulk size muscles rippled his body.

He was also butt ass fucking naked.

I swore and reacted.

I jumped straight in the air bringing my feet up I slammed them into the giant's chest. My legs jarred.

He stood unmoved.

I fell back instead of forward like I should have, landing on my shoulders I took my downward momentum flipping my legs over my head in a back flip. I came up crouched sword ready.

As I did so I saw several things at once.

I saw the other vampire guards blurring to us as Catniss, Gabriel took on the second giant on my side from behind instead of chasing the vamps. Jamie was engaged with the far left giant. The vamps paid no attention to us as they flew past us, ignoring us; they were after the team behind and above us.

Jasper was on the giant across from me.

"Peter! 9 INCOMING" an un-natural roar of Monstress tore from my throat.

Another door opened at the end of the hall releasing yet another giant.

Oh, fuck.

I heard Emmett and Rosalie take off after the vampires, pissing me the fuck off. Where the fuck were they going? Mother fucker!

"Jamie, behind you!" I told her.

My giant was laughing as I steadied myself in my crouch from my backward flip. He flexed his muscles and laughed bringing them forward looking like an open hug and lunged at me.

Fuck me.

As he came I shifted my weight. I saw Gabriel taking off to the other giant.

My giant got three feet from me and I took two rapid steps to the left sprang up and spun to face his side in mid air bringing the katana through with both hands to cut his head off. He raised his hand to deflect. The katana sliced through it, cutting it off; vibrating the blow enough I only sliced halfway into his neck severing his artery and some muscle, spraying blood over me and into my eyes.

For all intense and purposes, it should have taken him out, knocked him to his knees or knocked him off balance at the very least.

Not this naked fucker. He barely seemed to register his missing hand and gaping neck wound. He was now hard as a rock I noted absently.

I saw Jamie had taken her giant down as I was in the air and was going to help Catniss.

The giant turned with me as I wiped blood out of my eyes. I blinked trying to clear my vision as I faced off again facing the other way now. Blood sprayed from his neck and hand to the wall and floor. I couldn't see Jamie now, or the others behind me.

I could see Jasper having about as much luck as I was. The white hall was now sprayed in bloody patterns. Catniss I worried about. Being a ghoul she was fast and strong, but she was more intolerable to injuries not being a vampire like the rest of us.

I heard another door open behind us.

"Incoming!" Jasper howled. Oh, fuck. Six of those motherfuckers?

As I started to lunge forward again before he could get his bearings, I felt the air stir behind me. Not taking my eyes off the giant I turned the blade of the katana and slammed it back into the giant I sensed there. I didn't know why he was suddenly in my space but I didn't turn to find out either. With both hands, screaming a battle cry growl, I used everything I had, as the blade found purchase sliding in to the hilt.

As I twisted and took the blade out sideways the giant in front of me was reaching forward fast. He might be a big fuck, but the naked-man could move. As my blade came free of the body he was already on me.

I snarled savagely as the giant grabbed my left shoulder and squeezed as he tried to shake me.

Motherfucker. As the katana released from the one behind me, I realized the one in front of me was too close to get in a shot.

As he picked me up by my arm in his ignoramus hand, I heard bone give as I dropped the katana from my right hand and reached for my knife in the outside of my right boot. The fucker was laughing again. I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming.

Stupid.

Mother.

Fucker.

I heard Jasper roar in pain and felt pain it my chest, it lance through me. Taking a swift look peripherally, I saw Jaspers hand in the giants and the knife he was holding in the other was wedged into the giants neck. I faintly heard bones snapping.

That incensed Monstress and I.

Monstress roared I let out another howling growl, as she gave me strength and concentration from the pain. I slammed the knife into big boys side, I didn't think it would stop him, but it distracted him long enough his hold loosened just barely, I wrenched my shoulder out of his hold. Letting myself fall back I gritted my teeth and snarled as pain shot into my shoulder. As I fell I grabbing the katana. I now had room to swing. With every bit of strength in me I swung before he could recover, I slashed through his belly releasing his insides onto the floor and onto me.

Fuck he stunk.

He was rotten on the inside. I came up with the momentum of the swing and knocked him backwards with my right shoulder into his torso which was still across in front of my body from my swing. Holding the sword in blood hands, as he stumbled back holding his insides with his hands, I finished taking off his head with a backhand swing of the sword. Pain ripped through me.

As he fell I looked up finding Jasper leaping in the air with his sword, he was too close for the blow but kicked out with his feet sending the giant stumbling back with the knife still in his neck. Jasper swung taking off his head.

I turned to blur to help the others but I was too late.

Jamie was walking to Catniss, who was leaning on the wall behind and down from me lookin a little worse for wear. On the far hall wall away from me, Gabriel sat on the floor staring at the giant next him, he reached over and kicked him, for good measure, I presumed.

"Peter, check." I choked on the giant's blood I didn't know was in my mouth, I spit and hacked.

"_Check. Just… ok.. now were done_." He grunted.

"Where the fuck are Emmett and Rose?" I leaned my right shoulder on the wall as Jasper blurred to me and we took each other in.

There wasn't anyone left in the hall. Six dead fucking giants and one dead vampire. I think we did pretty fucking good considering part of our entourage left us.

"Up here helping." Peter sounded confused. Maybe realizing they weren't were they were suppose to be.

"Keep them the fuck away from me." I snarled. " And send some of Jamie's team down here. We've got injured. Gabriel is missing an arm and it looks like Catniss' leg is crushed."

"Injured? Why don't you want.."

"Peter." Jasper spat, "do it." He was next to me now looking at my shoulder and I was reaching for his hand.

He hissed I hissed.

MOTHER FUCKER. Why did they leave? There is a whole fucking team upstairs!

Looking back down the hall I switched eyesight. There were 2 more double doors at the end.

"We aren't finished yet." I whispered and sighed, trying to wipe my face of naked giant off my face.

He nodded scowling, but didn't take his eyes off my shoulder. The mate bond to check the other's wounds took the back burner to the warriors inside us. There were still enemies out there.

"I'll send-" Peter started.

"Fuck off, we got it." Jamie spat. She was as pissed off as I was from the sound of it. "Just send help for our bloody."

If Emmett and Rosalie woulda stayed put our team wouldn't have been hurt as bad. We looked at each other, nodded and the three of us headed down the hall.

"How the fuck did you take yours down so fast?" I asked Jamie.

She chuckled darkly, "You did notice they were naked, right?" I gave her a raised eyebrow as if to say 'and your point?' She shook her head at me, "I cut off the fucker's dick."

I laughed, I saw Jasper wince. I would've laughed harder if I hadn't been in so much pain and so pissed off.

"That's the last thing a guy thinks about doing." He commented with a grimace still on his face.

"You are one bad ass bitch." I told her.

"That's what my mate says." As she smiled. Her mate was our martial arts and combat guru, Josh. He's just as bad ass as she is.

I made quick hand signals telling them there were 5 in the room moving hastily.

"Scientists." I whispered.

He nodded. I turned pointed to Gabriel and then to Catniss who was now holding his arm he found in the bloody disorder. He'd have to get it cleaned before re-attaching. He nodded and limped to her.

My shoulder was shooting pain through me as it knitted back together. There was nothing I could do about it. At least it was still there. The final swing was the last my shoulder would be doing for awhile. Being hopped up on human blood it would heal faster, I was now extremely happy I took the blood Jasper gave me earlier.

Jamie, and I took one door and Jasper took the other. I motioned for them to give me their bindings.

As Jasper swung open the doors I hollered, "Come out come out wherever you are." the vampires and dhampirs stopped mid stride in various parts of the room.

I was right, all scientists. I let the bindings go as Jasper and Jamie ran into the room, as two ghouls from the blackness I missed, came at us.

Jamie took two of her knives from her chest fisting them together she slammed them into the ghouls chest as she let him wrap his arms around her, pushing forward she pulled the knives out either sides of his chest. Woman was wicked. He fell screaming to the floor. Taking out a sword she shut him up by taking off his head.

Jasper merely waited stepped aside and took the ghouls head off. Quick and easy. Seemed to be his fighting MO. By the time they finished I was pulling with my mind at the bindings wrapped around the scientists feet, knocking them on their asses.

They all started to speak at once.

"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP." Jasper roared at them. They did.

I think we were all a little pissed off, add the pain, yeah we weren't' happy campers.

Then we took in the room.

"Peter check." I whispered.

"_Check._"

"What do you have, Peter? Over." I asked in a murmur. I don't think I could've talked louder if I tried. I was staring at the carnage; it seemed sacrilege to talk louder.

"_A lab full of Intel. You?" _He replied_._

"36 doors down a corridor, unchecked, no movement, six dead giants, one dead vampire and another large lab with…" I paused, and closed my eyes for second. "22 cages with various mind fucks. Over." I re-opened my eyes, but it didn't improve what lay before us.

"_On the way. Over_." Peter's voice now strained. I could hear him moving before he told me he was coming.

Jamie, Jasper and I stood stock still staring. It wasn't anything Jamie and I hadn't seen before, but it was always a shock.

Every. Single. Fucking. Time.

There were 22 cages with large rod iron bars, 6ft by 8 ft, housing the worst your pretty little head can come up with in nightmares. There were creatures and things once human, vampire, and… your guess is as good as mine. After seeing the giants I wasn't so sure anymore what these things were or trying to become.

Jamie moved to start down the left isle, pulling herself from the initial shock. I turned and took the other isle. Jasper right on my ass.

I turned off my COM, as did Jasper.

"How's the emotional warfare down here?" The creatures were moaning, wrenching, writhing, convulsing, depending on which being you looked at. Tubes stuck out of their bodies leading to beeping machines. But when you looked into their eyes, there was nothing there.

As we walked our feet stuck to the floor from the blood soaked surface. The smell was beyond death. I stopped breathing at the door.

"To be honest, it's not…" he shook his head. "I've never felt such emptiness. There's pain, but not to the extent you would think. This… this is fucked-" he choked out. I felt his rage leak from his body.

The first one we came to was vampire. Or used to be. His arms were gone and in their place were what looked like dhampir or ghoul arms. I would guess ghoul because of the amount of blood on the metal gurney he was on and the deep color of it. His legs were torn off at the knees and venom seeped from the gaping holes. There were metal bowls under both of them collecting the venom. Tubes ran into the ghoul arms pumping more blood from the bags hanging at the sides of the bed.

Jasper made a strangled noise as he looked at the vampire. This one retained his head, but his eyes were closed. He held no expression whatsoever.

I couldn't help but ask, "Do you feel anything?"

"Not from this one, no. There's… he's empty." He hissed. I could see the struggle he was having. We at one point or another had all been there. Some of team even lived through it first hand.

Reaching up I laid my hand on his arm steadying him.

"I know." I whispered. "If it's too much…" he could leave, no one would think less of anyone who left.

"No." he hissed looking at me, I saw the shadow pass behind his eyes, "It's not as bad as you would think. Different, but not overwhelming." He gritted out. "There's just so much… fucking what are they doing? Why.."

"Hey, I know. Preachin' to the choir here," tugging him. If he wasn't leaving we needed to check the others. He could break down later with the rest of us.

The next one wasn't much better. This time it was a dhampir. Her torso was open with a tube running into her womb, it looked like. Her legs spread open with a metal pan underneath her. I didn't want to know anymore. She was on machines to keep her heart and lungs going. I opened the cage door, looking back at Jasper he nodded his head. I pulled the plug. No reason for her to suffer anymore. I pulled her legs down taking the metal pan from underneath her. There was nothing to cover her up with.

We started to the next one.

Jasper stopped and turned looking across the expanse to the other side where Jamie was walking and assessing. There were lab tables down the center with tools, beakers, sample trays, tubes, in other words sciences shit. But he was looking at Jamie. I looked at her making sure she was ok, and looked back at Jasper. His face was one of pain. I couldn't tell what he was looking at or what was going on.

Then his face went blank and he was across the room with me hot on his ass.

He stopped on the outside of a cage holding a dhampir girl. She was staring at the ceiling no expression, eyes haunted and blank. Tubes ran out of her draining her and tubes ran into her filling her with some kind of dark red liquid. Ghoul blood. At least part of it.

"She's alive." He said.

No shit.

"What do you mean?" Yeah, they were all alive to some extent; I didn't understand what made her any different.

"No, she's emitting fear. There's all kinds of emotions in this place, not one has fear, but she does." he whispered taking her in.

I looked closer and realized what he was talking about. Her eyes weren't as dead at closer inspection.

"Jamie, -" I said turning to her. She was in the cage right next this one.

"On it." She was already coming around and opening the cage door. Walking in cautiously she started whispering to the girl telling her she wasn't going to hurt her.

"Can you feel anything from the others?" I asked Jasper as we watched Jamie enter and access the monitors and wires. My body surged with gratitude and awe at Jaspers gift. This would take off time we wouldn't otherwise have.

"No… maybe…" he took off checking cages.

Peter and followers were checking the outer hall, as Tia and Max, from Jamie's team, came in.

"Follow Jasper please," Jamie instructed Max. Max looked at her funny but followed him nevertheless.

As another member of her team came in to help I excused myself telling Jasper where I would be. He nodded absently still going down the rows of chopped and mutilated beings. I saw hope in his eyes.

I went out of the room, walking down the hall I peered into rooms. The others were doing the same.

"Something's wrong." I heard Peter mutter.

"Where are all the patients?" I asked looking into yet another empty room.

"What's in the lab room?" he asked.

"Dhampirs, vamps, and humans. These experiments are more advanced from what we've seen before. They're more… creative." I said furiously.

"No ghouls." Peter stated.

"No," I said gravely. "There are ghoul parts however. I haven't seen a whole one, no. There arent any more door down here, I haven't seen any hatches."

"What do you mean?"

"From what I saw, they're putting ghoul parts and blood into dhampirs and vamps. But there aren't any whole ghouls, besides the ones from upstairs." I said.

Peter and I looked at each other. Oh fuck.

"Around here somewhere are ghouls. Lots of ghouls." Peter stated the obvious.

Thinking about the Intel we got and the grounds I said. "Outside. The dump truck and backhoe, they've buried them outside."

"Yes." Peter nodded, turning on his COM he asked, "Jeb, did you guys see any activity outside with heavy equipment?"

"_No. I'll send a couple out to look for disturbances._" Jeb said. His team being here only a couple days before us, I wasn't surprised.

"Send more than a couple," I said knowing he could here me from Peters COM, "If there's more giants around somewhere you'll need more than a couple."

I said to Peter, "There's more somewhere else too. Even if they have some buried there aren't any in here awake."

"Maybe they're drainin' 'em before they wake up. Remember in Russia, they were taking blood from 'em as they changed. They didn't burry them though, they were in a isolated room, but…" he trailed off. I remembered.

"How did you miss them?" Peter asked turning back to me. There was anger in his voice as he looked at the huge behemoths on the ground. I knew the anger wasn't for me. You never, never ever leave the people you're with short handed. EVER.

"They don't show up at all on inferred. Nothing. Not even a shadow, I don't know what the hell those things are." I answered Peter, my own anger simmering.

Peter worried his lip. I nodded my head at his facial expression. Yah, oh fuck was right.

Those things were 7 ft tall and 4 ft wide. Their facial features actually looked like something carved from stone. Besides the one laughing at me I hadn't heard any of them speak. I walked over to one torn a part on the floor and bent down. The stench coming from them was intolerable.

Looking up at Peter, "When they came from the side doors, I don't remember smelling anything from them, no stench, their insides smell of rot once cut open. They used their brute strength rather than any actual fighting technique." Thinking about what I had seen I told him further, "I was able to sense them. When we were fighting I 'felt' one behind me, I knew instinctively it was giant and stabbed him. They felt sinister, like their aura leaks from them." shaking my head I tried to put into words of what I experienced. "Maybe Jasper has a better understanding with his gift. He probably got a better read than I did."

"Where is Major?" Peter asked.

"He's helping Jamie and her team in the lab. He can feel the coherent ones, or at least decipher emotions and help separate them from the ones too far gone." I said with smile as felt pride for my mate.

"Good, good. I knew he would, but didn't know if it would be an overloud," he said absently. "There're 3 shifters I want you to look at. They're the only ones in all these rooms."

He led me back down the hall and opened a door towards the stairs.

There was shifter inside half changed laying on a metal gurney. His facial features were grotesquely distorted, bones halfway into the change. Tubes ran in and out. Blood, dried and wet coated the metal gurney. A wound on his enlarged neck leaked some kind of yellowish green substance. His body was riddled with lacerations of varying sizes. Whether they did it to get him to start the change or from a struggle was anyone's guess.

"How did they stop the change halfway?" I muttered as I took inventory.

"Careful." Peter cautioned, as I moved forward.

"Are the other ones like this?" I breathed. This was horrible. He had to be in so much pain.

"Yes." Peter said sadly. Jesus on rye toast. This was horrible.

I walked over trying not to disturb anything. Taking in the bag feeding the shifter intravenously, I scowled. It didn't have any markings on it I understood. The liquid inside was blue.

What the fuck?

I reached down to where it was connected to an arm.

"Why don't you wait for Jamie?" Peter whined.

"She and her team are in the lab, Peter." I told him, not really paying attention to him anymore.

Taking out one of the tubes feeding him the blue funky shit, I cautiously looked up at the creatures face as the needle slipped out. You couldn't tell what he was. He was huge though. If he was this big only half changed, he was a monster. I straightened back up and reached for another tube, this one seemed to be draining blood.

Nothing happened, so I inched forward again reaching for another tube he moaned.

I stopped mid reach not even breathing. Watching for movement.

Waiting.

Nothing.

Reaching for the last tube I unhooked it and quickly stepped back.

Another rumbling moan and the body began to change shape. Twisted, jerked and rippled. I watched the train wreck with curiosity, fascination and horror. I couldn't look away.

As the body formed back into human I realized it wasn't a he. It was a she. Completely naked. Of course she's naked I chastised myself.

"Peter get me a blanket." I murmured.

He didn't move and I looked over at him sporting the same expression I had a few moments ago.

"Peter!" I snapped quietly.

"OH, yeah, ok." He took off out of the room.

I looked back at the gurney as the last of the woman changed. She laid panting drenched in sweat, eyes closed. Her body laced with cuts and lacerations oozing blue, red and purple funk.

Letting myself take in a shallow breath I almost gagged. She smelled of horror. There was no way else to describe it.

I started to inch toward her and her eyes popped open. Peter came in as she let out a wail of pain.

Grabbing the blanket Peter held I quickly covered her up. Not touching her, but completely aware of how close I was to her arms I spoke to her cautiously.

"Your safe. Your safe, now. Bad guys are dead." She didn't move her body except for her eyes which blinked and turned to the sound of my voice. They were filled with terror. She was making god offal sounds of grunts and shrieks.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Your safe. No one's going to hurt you anymore."

"C…ca… Can't…m…mm… move." She whispered out between cracked lips and clenched teeth.

Without turning to Peter I commanded, "Find some water, Peter, and unhook the others. Now."

He was out of the room in a flash barking orders as he went.

Jasper was the one to bring me water a few minutes later as I talked to her, telling her she was safe over and over. I felt him before he entered the room.

The woman moved her eyes as he came in and started to freak. I felt the touch of his energy as it slid passed me into the woman. She calmed down but the look of utter terror never left her eyes.

"He's good. He's not going to hurt you. He's here to help. Here," I brought the water Jasper handed to me to her lips, "drink little sips." I put one hand under her head and brought it up so she wouldn't choke on it. Her long auburn hair was matted and full of blood.

Forgetting about Jasper as he stepped behind me out of her line of sight and the water touching her chapped lips, she took a swallow and her eyes became grateful. I gently fed her little sips of water for a minute before she closed her eyes and her body went slack.

"She's fainted, or passed out." Jasper whispered.

I nodded and let her head down back onto the gurney. Turning to Jasper "did you find others?"

"Only 3 more so far." He said with sadness so profound I slipped my good arm around him. Even with the foul blood on him I could smell the leather and spice scent of him. I drew him in as he leaned over me to do the same at my neck. There was nothing I could say to re-assure him. Re-assure him of what?

Peter walked back in, "The other 2 are unhooked, they haven't regained consciousness. What happened." He asked as he took in the unconscious woman.

"Gave her water and she passed out." I said.

"Did she say anything?" I shook my head.

"Have they found anything outside?" Jasper asked.

"They're following a trail now." Peter said.

"We should go." I said tearing myself away from Jaspers arms.

They nodded.

"Where's Char?" I asked.

"She's in one of the shifter's rooms." Peter answered.

I walked across the hall finding Char. "Hey, woman, let's go see what's buried outside, or are you staying?" The man she was cleaning off looked as bad as the one next door. She was cleaning a huge wound in his forehead. They weren't healing as they should be. Whatever was in the stuff they were giving them wasn't a healing agent.

"No, I'm coming." As she straightened from the man on the gurney I saw her wince.

I raised an eyebrow at her; "Got bit." she said and pointed to her ass.

My eyes about popped out of my head and I opened my mouth to say something witty and she held her hand up, behind gritted teeth she said, "Don't."

I snapped my mouth shut. Poor Char.

I heard Peter growl lowly behind me. He wasn't happy about it either.

We took the stairs up. I didn't see Emmett and Rosalie downstairs. I was not impressed with them. My temper was quieting down from what happened earlier. I knew they just didn't know how to fight or what to do, but anyone with a brain who saw those guys come out of those doors would have stayed to fight. They knew there was a room full of our people upstairs. Yet, they chose to leave.

I brushed it off. There was nothing I could do about it now. We survived. They were lucky Jasper survived with minimal damage. I could deal with it later. Hopefully for Emmett and Rosalie it would be much later.

As we came around the corner I saw them at the end of the hall helping to carry out computer equipment, my body flashed in rage and I growled low and deadly. So much for calming down. Monstress wanted blood.

Peter grabbed my arm pointed to his COM I hadn't turned back on "Jeb found a bunker."

I stared at him teeth bared, he let go of my arm when Jasper growled at him, finally getting the hint. Pain lancing up my arm again. I must have winced because Jasper was in front of me trying to take a look at my arm.

"I'm ok." I said to my rumbling concerned mate. I put my good hand up on his face and he gradually stopped making threatening noises at his best friend.

"How's your hand?" I said as distraction. The bones were back to normal I could see, but I knew he was still in pain.

He just looked at me relaying he knew I was trying to distract him, and grunted. I leaned up a little and kissed his neck as he kissed my cheek. We were both covered in blood, but I didn't care.

I took in a huge breath staring at Peter's knowing face over Jasper's shoulder and released it slowly. He nodded gravely in apology. I gave a slight smile. He hadn't known.

We turned back down the hall and went out the way Jasper and I came in.

I still didn't turn back on my COM. I needed to calm down; listening to all the banter would just piss me off.

Following Peter and Char through the woods on an old logging road we found Jeb and his team. They were standing in front of a cellar like entrance in the ground.

Jeb turned from a laptop he was holding as we came up, "We haven't opened it. Not sure if we should."

"Being a ghoul you know more about it than we do, Jeb, you tell us what needs to be done. What's your take?" I asked. He would know better than any of us what it felt like in hibernation becoming a ghoul, and if it was safe to open it. We didn't want to harm the occupants if it could be helped.

"I think we should leave 'em. From the scents, when we first found it, there's old as well as fresh vampire scents leading here. We have no idea how long they've been here." He said solemnly.

"Do you have any idea how big the place is or how many?" Jasper spoke up.

Jeb pointed to a ghoul at the entrance, "We're checking it out. The wire he's feeding in is a camera. I'll have an answer here for you shortly, Major."

"We need to call Zafrina." I said turning to Char.

She nodded. "Tia's been giving her updates from Jamie. She'll need to know about this. We'll have to leave people here or she'll have to send people down if the ghouls inside need time. And we'll have to fight over the shifters with her. You better talk to her Izzy."

Oi.

We all nodded.

Jeb was watching his laptop again.

You could barely make out what we looking at, but Jeb's trained eyed seemed to.

"They're not deep. Maybe 25 feet in." he paused studying the picture. "There looks to be about 26 of them, if I'm seeing it right." as he said it my eyes focused on the tables instead of the shadows. There were 26 tables set up. You really couldn't tell from the angle if they were all filled but the closer ones were. Assuming the rest were as well, and they all woke at the same time, it wasn't going to be fun.

Hitting a bunch of buttons, Jeb turned the laptop facing me. I gave him a confused look and he just smiled. As soon as I saw Zafrina on the screen I gave him a dirty look. He just smiled. He hated talking to her. She bore a love interest for Jeb. Jeb was mated, although it didn't seem to detour Zafrina's affections.

"My lo'elee how 're you? I 'ear you 're kickin' butt." Zafrina's accent was so thick.

"I'm good, Zafrina. We all are. We have some injuries, we're all alive though." I assured her,

"Goot to 'ear my lo'ey. Tell me." She said simply.

"We ran into a new species. Simply put, they're giants. 7foot or so by 4 foot" Zafrina whistled, "3 shifters and you probably know more about Jamie's survivors than I do," I told her.

"'Eh, Zee tolt me there are 8 tat mite live. Rumoz zay you have more."

"Yes. We need your help on this. We have a bunker with possible 26 maybe more ghouls in a bunker 3 miles from the main building. They're too close to the door and too far away to tell anything else. We'll need people on the outside here to help them when they rise. We'll need food and medical supplies. We can't tell what shape they'll be in. Zafrina, you know also they're might be a possibility they won't all be ghouls."

"Ze 'an't ted'?" she asked.

"No, we can't tell." Deciphering her accent was hard sometimes. Well, most times. I loved listening to it, but to speak it I slaughtered it even for a vampire. She was old and her accent still held old world thickness. When she tried to speak English she slaughtered it just as I did Brazilian.

"Bin' dem to me." Here's where no one wanted to tangle with her. We were on her territory but we had arrangements made over the past years she didn't like to follow.

I sighed and gave her an exasperated look; "You know I'm taking the shifters with me."

She said nothing, she appeared to pout almost, but I knew better. "No." was all she said.

"I'm not arguing with you. You know we take them North with us. They will do better around a tribe of other shifters. They are unconscious. When they wake and smell vampires they'll freak the fuck out. You know this, I know this, everyone knows this. It will be safer for them around their own kind." I argued.

""Oot Kind?" She asked.

"We don't know, and it doesn't matter, Zafrina. I'm taking them." I said, no rebuff in my voice.

She sighed heavily like this was a great grief she carried to let us take them. "'ine."

"I'll get you an update when I hear one." I said referring to Jacob.

"Ey." She said as she pouted. She was pissed, but I didn't care, what I told her was true and she knew it. She turned off the link.

I sighed and everyone let out laughs except for Jasper. Turning to him I told him "This is Zafrina's territory. She believes everything here is hers. No questions. No ifs ands or buts. But leaving shifters here is bad when we don't know any down here to help them, as I'm sure you figured out."

"She seemed alright with it." He said just as confused as before.

"That's because you don't know her, she's pissed off. Her pouting routine is for show." Char said.

We all nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's get this shit cleaned up and figure out who's staying and who's going." Peter said rubbing his hands together.

"Rosalie and Emmett are staying." I said.

They all stared at me.

**A/N**

**Yeah. Ok. **

**Not where you all thought it was going? Is it exactly where you thought?**

**This chapter really sets the stage for the rest of this story. There won't be the gore and horror all the time, but they will be chasing these Labs down and finding out what's going on. There will be more action to come. They will eventually figure out what all these creatures are being made for.**

**Monstress and Major will be at play throughout. They still have to figure out who exactly they are and how Monstress and Major got there. To let you know… it has nothing to do with the Labs. They are not Lab created in any way shape or form.**

**Uh, what else? Oh, Jasper is getting his bearings right now. He's just started drinking human blood again and has a shit ton to deal with. Major will slowly start to balance out our Jasper. He's clamped down so hard on his inner beast for so long, it's going to take a bit for his dominant side to stick. He'll have to remember who he once was.**

**I think Jasper needs to air his grief and rage with dear miss Alice. Let go of some of his past. Move forward.**

**And what's up with Edward huh? Where was he for those ten years?**

**Emmett and Rosalie are on the shit list. Just bad bad choices I think.**

**Workin' on the next chapter. **

**Thanks again for the great reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Just want to say a big thanks to the wonderful reviews! It amazes me still how many new people join the fav's lists each chapter! **

**This chapter has a bite of lemon, so you've been warned.**

**Has a bit of the Alice showdown we've all waited for also. **

**Hope you all enjoy it!**

**MUST BE 18* TO READ THE M'S!**

**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight, I own this one.**

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

~Getting to know Alice Bysshop~

~Izzy POV~

It took over and hour to explain to Char, Peter and the others what happened in the basement of the lab building and then make arrangements for Emmett and Rose to stay with Zafrina.

Jeb called Zafrina back and I merely told her I had a couple of vampires to train with Josh, Jamie's mate. He was down here training Zafrina's people. Zafrina was all too happy to have more company, and was quick to accommodate us. She liked having our group down here. I don't know if she thought it gave her power over us or if trying to pump our people for information was her objective. On the other hand, it could merely be something she felt a friend would do. You just never knew with her.

This life made me paranoid. Sometimes I knew people were just helpful, but we were dealing with older vampires. They'd been around. They knew the score and played games to entertain themselves. Some of it was harmless, but I took no chances. We couldn't afford not to be cautious and look at every angle. Besides, look at who we come accustomed to dealing with; Alice, Carlisle, Edward. If those 3 weren't enough to prove the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing I didn't know what was.

Right now it was for convenience sake, more than anything, that we leave those ya-hoos down here. Josh already being down here gave me the advantage and excuse of putting space between Rose, Em and the Fortress. And me, for that matter. Much needed space. It also got them training they desperately needed. I talked to Josh and told him what I wanted to happen. We came to some common ground on what would be acceptable training and what to teach them. We walked a delicate line here. That slim possibility they were somehow involved with Alice, we didn't dare take to chance and teach them everything. I didn't think they were, but the urge to protect what I felt was mine would never leave me, no matter who it was.

Jamie and part of her team were also staying down here a few extra days making sure the survivors were taken care of, and they could help keep an eye on them. It wasn't as if they would be without some of our people. When Josh, Jamie, and the others came back to the Fortress, Emmett and Rose could join them. Now we just needed to inform Emmett and Rose.

I'd been thinking about what happened a couple hours ago while we organized ourselves and decided who was staying and who was going. I knew Jasper wanted a little chat with them. I was going to also. I'd reign in my tempter and say what needed to be said.

Yah.

I called Jacob and made arrangements with them. They were preparing for Peter and Charlotte's arrival. The 3 unconscious shifters were going to the Quileute tribe in La Push.

There were 3 other survivors who would most likely make it and 5 who were possible. They were being transported to Zafrina's makeshift hospital. At both places they would be observed. Depending on what was done to them, it all had varying affects. They would try to heal their wounds and take blood and tissue samples to determine long-term affects and goals. It really depended on what they were given as to what would happen next. It also gave us something to compare to what happened in previous labs.

We secured the bunker as much as we could before heading back to the lab. Jeb put a stationary camera in the chamber, any activity would be detected and steps made to make sure the ghouls awakenings would be as safe and comfortable as possible.

Zafrina was hard to read sometimes, but I knew she was happy to take in the new additions to her line. She didn't like how they got there, but she wouldn't shun them or kill them. She was already making preparations for meat to be here when they woke up. Ghouls were a lot better about their newborn stage than vampires were. Except for when they first woke up hungry and anything would do. It took them about a month to adjust to their physical need to consume fresh meat. It was rare if they munched on humans, but it was known to happen. If there wasn't anything else around, anything fleshy and raw would be tasty snacks.

Zafrina was making arrangements for the new ghouls accommodations as well. These ghouls couldn't go back into society right away, of course. She would feed, house, and clothe them for however long it took for them to get back on their feet and contribute to her realm. Some might even join us like others from Russia had done. Zafrina would have to evaluate them and judge what was needed.

Since it was an open bunker with fresh scents leading to and from, there was always the possibility they had been experimented on. This was the largest cluster we found to date. It would be no easy task in settling them into their new lives.

Jeb's team found computer data referring to the ghouls, but no dates. Still no clue as to when they were put there. We couldn't get a good enough image with Jebs electronics to tell how long they would be. Each one would be different anyway.

We went back to the lab to give a hand in finishing preparing transports and collecting data. Making sure we checked every nook and cranny of the place for anything tucked away. Jamie's team took their samples of those who wouldn't survive their ordeal.

All information and data would be going with us back to the Fortress for Mac and the tech team to hash over.

Usually I would spend the next week pouring over the data and cross referencing it with what we already obtained over the years, but this time I would be occupied by spending quality time with our dear friend Alice. Jasper didn't say anything, but I could see in his eyes he was hungry for her blood, he was also full of questions, he was ready to go.

Peter made preparations to burn the vampires separately and take the ash to New Orleans.

"Don't you think it's just…" Jasper had said scowling at Peter's activities.

"The vampires who actually were coherent enough in the past, who were raised in labs like these, didn't want to be healed. Most couldn't be healed. They all begged for death. Most don't even have their body parts. If it were you, would you rather die in vain, never being able to seek retribution on those who did this to you? Or would you be willing to do anything to help if you could?" Peter asked him.

Jasper stared at him as his scowl slowly slipped from his face.

"I know what yor' thinkin' brother, I do. At first, well, sometimes I still do, I struggled with it. But let me ask you this, if the vampires down there could have fought against those beasts you went up against today, don't you think they would have? This gives them the chance to fight another day. We do everythin' we can to release their spirit and souls from the ash, and then let them join the fight. We take care of em'" Peter told him quietly.

Jasper peered at Peter for a moment and then gave him a nod of the head.

It was hard for all of us. The four of us already made the rest, at some point, promise to do the same to us if, god for bid, we parish somehow along the way. We wanted to all help, even in death.

Tia was to ride back with us along with our wounded; Peter and Charlotte would be taking a private charter to La Push. After talking to Jacob we decided to make makeshift cages for the 3 shifters. More like bars to separate them for their sense of security. The bars wouldn't hold up for anything but gave the illusion of separation and safety. It also gave time Peter and Charlotte would need to explain and comfort if the shifters were to wake. Hopefully.

I thought it was cruel but in the end, what're you going to do? If they woke on the plane and smelled vampires after what they were already dealt with and however they were taken, they would come out teeth and claws bared. We could only guess when they would wake up. It was safer for all involved.

The one I helped smelled so unlike any animal I ever encountered, it wasn't even funny. If I hadn't watched the change and seen it for myself I would never believed she was shifter. There was a muskiness maybe, but the drugs they'd given to all 3 of them changed something in them. Jacob and the wolves dealt with this before, they were prepared for just about anything.

When we found the first shifter in Russia, all hell broke loose with the tribe when I told them. I couldn't _not_ tell them. They needed to be prepared. They needed knowledge to protect themselves. There were heated discussions for a year until I convinced them to come with us. Sam sent Jacob and Embry to Russia with us. Once they saw what was happening, they began to help in earnest where they could. Besides wanting revenge on Alice, they could help other shifters. It unified our two groups. They were still cautious of us of course, but we made the deal with them to bring any shifter we found to them. We made a treaty with them of our own as well. As far as the wolves were concerned the Cullen treaty was null and void. In return they supplied the rest of our people with talismans. Jacob would have done it anyway, but this way brought the whole tribe to being involved. They all took part.

Their revenge for Alice would be bitter sweet in the end. They wouldn't get to kill her per say, but they could help in her demise. They would have to settle for her ashes.

We spent another 8 hours cleaning up and preparing the lab for destruction. Waiting for choppers and transports, bringing in and taking out. We hesitated in demolishing all of it because of the ghouls, but they wouldn't need it once they woke up and there were horrible nightmares made in this place echoing the walls. We burned it down in the end.

(==+==+==+==+==+==+==+)

We stood watching the flames raise and fall, the light flickering into the dawn, lighting up the forest, and creating shadows amongst the shadows. Embers crested and fell in the breeze.

I stood mesmerized by it all.

Rose approached me cautiously. Jasper already chitchatted with them. I didn't feel I could restrain my temper to do the deed. I don't know what was said, but after, Emmett and Rosalie, looked like two kids coming from the paddling shed having been spanked by grandma herself.

As she walked up to me she didn't say anything, just stood by me watching the flames. Jasper was standing next to me on the other side and soon Emmett was joining Rose, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry." Rose whispered.

"Rose,-" and she still had the balls to interrupt me and correct me.

"It's Rosalie," she snipped.

"Actually I'll call you Mud if I want to. You almost got my mate and 3 of my team members killed. In my book sweetheart, that gives me grounds to call you anything I damn well please." I said calmly, I didn't take my eyes off the flames. I could see her stiffen in my peripheral and I smirked. I was standing stiffly with my arms crossed on my chest with no expression whatsoever. I didn't want her to see my anger; all that would cause is another fight. We had more important things to discuss.

She didn't say anything back. The air grew tense around us.

"Rose," Monstress growled, but I was going to do this anyway. It was only fare; it was the closest to an apology they would get. "I should never have let you come with us. Either one of you." they both stiffened. "You don't know my team. You don't know me. You didn't know what you were walking into. I let two untrained people whom I don't know or trust fight next to me and my team. I took the chance to show you a small piece of the picture, wanting you to see what was going on. You needed to see it, the opportunity arose for you to do just that, and I let my emotions get in the way. In the end it was my fault for letting you both go in there with us. I know you already got an ass chewing, which you deserved. There is no excuse for what you did. I'm not going to give you a chance for another fuck-up like that, however. What your answer to my next question will determine how this is going to play out." Monstress wasn't happy, but she knew there was little room to argue with my reasoning. She swiped her claw gently at me part in retribution and part in acceptance.

"When you saw what was here, how did it make you feel?" I asked.

There was a long pause. Emmett was the one to speak up first.

"For what it's worth B we are sorry, it was stupid to leave you all there. There is no excuse for it. Seeing all this," he jerked his head towards the flames. "Pissed. Angry. Enraged. You guys all tried to warn us what we would see, but seeing it, Char was right, you can't wipe the images out of your head. It… it changes you." he said quietly.

I gave a jerk of my head in acknowledgement and looked at Rose.

"Rose?" I asked.

"Enraged. Small. Very small." I wasn't sure if she referring to her actions earlier or what they had seen or both. "It's overwhelming. Like Em said, it changed us." She finished just as quiet as Em did.

"Ok. What do you want to do about it?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked.

"Does it make you want to take action, or is it an experience you chalk up as something you went through and let it go?" I clarified.

"I want to hurt the people who did this. It pisses me off they get away with this, have gotten away with it for so long. What they do to those people, what they…" He bared his teeth.

Passion. Passion was good.

"I want blood." Rosalie snarled.

I nodded my head.

"Josh, Our martial arts and combat trainer is down here. He's one of the best. He's done our training. He trains me. He'll take good care of you. Jamie is his mate. She'll be down here finishing to help the survivors and help with the rest of clean up from this end. You're going to stay with them at Zafrina's. I've already talked to her and made arrangements. You'll go through a course study sorta speak over the next couple weeks, then you'll accompany them back to the Fortress and continue training before you go back out in the field to help in any way." I told them.

"I thought we were going back now? I don't want to stay down here." Rose said angrily.

"Well, this is your choice. You can either stay here and train or you can go back with us and play Nintendo for as long as it takes for us to take care of this. Years, decades, or a century, however long. You can choose to not have any part of it. But know this." I turned to face them then. "You will never set foot in anything we're doing. Ever. You won't be given any information of any kind. I can't afford for it to happen. I can't afford for you two to go wondering around jeopordizing our mission. I made a mistake and lost focus on the big picture. This is larger than any of us and to loose focus and start letting people come into the mix without true knowledge is unacceptable.

This is my life. This is our life. All these people you see here." I swept my arm out encompassing our circle gathered around the fire, "This is what they _DO_. What _we_ _do_. It's not a game or a fancy we get off on for a couple of weeks. When you join you join until the job is done. Some of their very lives depend on seeing this through. If you guys are willing to do what it takes, willing to go through what these people have, then I'm willing to train you. But you'll go through the same programs and the same channels everyone else does. You aren't better than they are. They have more at stake in this then you do. Way more. I will not jeopardize them again by the smaller pictures and send in amateurs who run around like chickens with its heads chopped off. Think about it."

I grabbed Jaspers hand and we walked away. Tucking me under his arm he kissed my head sending me awe and pride.

"You stink." He said grinning shooting me a bit of lust.

"So do you. Let's go. There's showers on the plane." I said falling into his emotions and welcoming them as they wrapped around fueling my own desire.

"Mmmm" He hummed. My libido kicked in as I felt his lust react to mine. Yes it was time to leave.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

We wondered a little making sure everything was good to go. Zafrina's people were here in place securing the fence for the livestock they brought in, and building a makeshift hut for them all to sit and wait. Jeb was giving orders and preparing. Peter and Charlotte were set.

Jasper and I took off with our fellow passengers. We helped carry out what we needed for Mac.

As we boarded the jet from unloading the chopper I went straight for the shower. Jasper followed me. We dug through the bins finding comfy attire and stripped our blood soaked and torn clothing from our bodies. Fuck nasty. Putting our weapons aside we recovered from the carnage in a separate container to be cleaned. We were going to have to burn our clothes. They stunk something fierce; we put them in trash bags and then in yet another bin and sealed it. I'd gone through how many leathers in the last 45 or so hours? Damn. I'd have to order more.

"You know, if you don't like the clothes Charlotte and I got for you in your quarters, you can buy whatever you want, I can give you the address we have everything delivered to. I have a woman who makes my leathers specifically for my needs, I could give you her number too." I didn't want him to think he was being dressed and controlled.

"Not at all. You guys did well. Jeans and shirts are my bread and butter. I could use another pair or two of those leathers, though. I can't believe how comfy they are." Jasper got lower and lower as he talked. He came over and leaned his dirty naked body over me as I dug for towels. I could feel his excitement at seeing my ass in the air.

"They are comfortable, I can't believe how fucking sexy you look in them, your ass…" I trailed off letting the lust and desire speak for me.

I laughed as we turned the water to blast hot and he all but pushed me into the small stall.

We washed our crevasses, grooves, and places you wouldn't think blood would find or could. We washed off the layers of grime and funk. He washed my hair slowly letting the grime wash away down the drain.

I turned to wash his hair, lathering the shampoo in my hands. He laid his forehead on my good shoulder. My other shoulder didn't really hurt anymore, but he was being overly gentle anyway. I washed it slowly running my fingers through his curls, making the lather huge and bubbly.

I felt his fingers right before I felt his lust spike. His fingers trailed down my neck slowly over my collarbone, tracing over my scars to my chest. He touched the claw on my necklace and then swept them over my breast to my already taught waiting nipple.

I hissed as he took the bud in his fingers and twisted slightly. I let out a whoosh of air and then inhaled sharply as his other hand found the other nipple.

I let my head fall back against the stall wall. My breathing grew heavier and I could hear his pick up as he caressed my body.

Pushing his head back under the spray he washed off the suds, I took advantage and leaned forward taking his hard nipple in my mouth. I let my teeth drag over it before sucking. He hissed and jerked his hips letting me feel what it did to him. He was half hard before he got in the shower, now he was so hard his cock almost touched his abdomen.

Fuck, he was beautiful. Thick, long. The V in his hips only added to the splendor that was mine.

"Miiinnne" Growling possessively I ran my fingers down his abdominal muscles, over his scars, tracing the glorious indentions in his body.

I never took my mouth off him, planting opened mouth kisses and teases with my teeth across his chest. I let my fingers run over his balls gently before wondering up to his shaft, feeling the ridges and veins.

Exploring each detail.

His skin was so soft.

The head of his cock was swollen and hard with need; I ran my fingers up and around teasing him, spreading the drops he gave me. I rubbed the ridges in the middle of the V of his head finding the sensitive spots I had previously found with my tongue, making him wild.

I heard his low rumbling purr build into something more feral. His desire was only fueling mine. He rubbed his head against mine lovingly. His hands were caressing my body, kneading my flesh as he tried to restrain himself. The noises coming from his mouth only drove me further. I whimpered as he reacted to my ministrations. Never giving him quite what he wanted. I let my fingers do the pleasuring knowing he would break and give me what I truly wanted. I was dripping down my thighs already with want, desire, and need.

The smell of our arousal mixed together and we panted drawing it in. My nostrils flared and I purred for him.

"MIinnnEEe" he snarled.

I was suddenly lifted and pushed against the wall. I looked into his eyes now level with my own, and saw the raw fiery desire there, leaving me speechless. I wrapped my legs around him automatically and pulled him closer.

"Now." he growled. Knowing what he wanted I wrapped my hand around his throbbing cock, guiding him to my entrance. He didn't wait. He pushed forward as soon as he felt my outer lips. He slipped down and then up into me.

I screamed between clenched teeth as I saw and heard him do the same. Some primal noise I never heard before came from his chest as he seated himself fully inside me, my tight walls stretching to grip him in welcome.

I left my hand flat between us as my fingers touched where we were connected, feeling him pull out and thrust into me.

I was shot with lust and a purring growl of his approval.

"I can't … I … last … long… doing that," he gritted out as he watched my hand feel him slide in and out of me over and over. I drew my hand back slightly and ran my thumb over my sensitive nub in fast little circles matching his pace as it picked up.

He felt so good.

I could feel every ridge and textured inch of him as he slid in and out of me.

His face held a look of pure rapture.

I pulled one foot from his ass cheek, putting it up on the wall behind him, letting him slip further into me at a new angle, and giving me leverage to thrust with him.

"Fuck! _Darlin_'," he hissed as my mouth fell open in a silent scream.

He leaned over capturing my lip with his teeth biting and nipping me. As my lips closed around his, my tongue searching, he gave me what I wanted, his taste exploding in my mouth.

I whimpered.

"Jasssper." I moaned into his mouth.

I was spiraling into oblivion.

His thrusts increased as we both neared our goal.

His lust feeding us pushing me over and I was snarling trying to strangle the scream coming out of my mouth as I started to come.

My juices overflowing, drenching both of us.

My walls clenched around him as I spiraled into a kaleidoscope of ecstasy.

Colors swirled before my clenched eyes as I felt him jack-knife into me and spill his seed deep, letting go of a strangled scream of his own.

Our mouths never lost contact and I moved my lips kissing his. I would never get enough of him.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head onto his shoulder, rewrapping my leg around him, holding him to me.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)

We sat down in the lounge area of the jet and just relaxed. Tia, Catniss and Gabriel were on the flight with us. Catniss' leg was healing slowly. Zafrina's group gave her fresh meat before we packed her out. She was laying on one of the couches in the middle section of the jet. Gabriel was with her, freshly fed, and heeling still. I could here them quietly chatting about recent events. Tia was in the shower now.

"I want to ask some questions." Jasper said quietly. We were wrapped up in each other in the L shaped sofa in the front section of the jet. My legs rested on his lap as his arms held them, his fingers tracing imaginary patterns in my sweats. My head was reclined on the back; my eyes shut listening to the hum of the jet and the others. I rolled my head to the side and opened my eyes slowly.

"You can ask me anything. I'll answer to the best of my ability." I snickered.

His eyes darted to the back of the jet and then to me. I smiled knowingly at him.

"Everyone here is cool. Promise." I said and reached over and laid my hand on his, laying on my knee, and squeezed.

He nodded. "On the way down there I didn't want to ask in front of Rose and Em and I was trying to control myself." He sighed letting his head fall back to the back of the sofa. "I'm glad they stayed. I didn't know how they would react to what I really want to know. I wasn't sure how much interference they would have with Alice and Edward either. I have a feeling they completely missed the implications of what you told us."

"I got that impression, too." I said softly. I know they did. If they did catch on, then they would have gone ballistic or they were both the best actors in the world. I took a gamble on telling them as much as I did while in the air. But Rosalie is all about herself and how it affects her. Em, bless him, would either figure it out and not to want to upset Rose, or he wouldn't truly think about his families betrayal or wouldn't believe it. I had a feeling it was the latter.

"Tell me about Carlisle's involvement in this." He said point blank. I smiled huge leaning forward I kissed him. Slow and steady. He opened his mouth and deepening it. No fight for dominance, I just showed my appreciation for him. He tasted so good. Spicy, clean like rain and just him. I pulled my lips from him and smiled up at him.

"Not that I mind darlin', but what was that for?" He asked with that lazy grin I was coming to know and love.

"You aren't running. You're still here. You want to know." I told him simply.

"I can't run if I tried, Isabella." He slowly smirked at me. "I'm connected to you. I couldn't run. Stop worrying so much. I'm here. I'm in this. I'm with you." He said earnestly. Then his face turned somber. "I'll be honest, when you got hurt down there by Hercules, I was…"

"Did you feel it?" I wondered briefly after it happened if my pain diverted his attention to me.

He nodded, "I felt your pain, it distracted me, letting my guard down long enough the asshole got a hold of me." he bit out.

"I know what you mean. I felt your pain too, when he grabbed your hand." I ran my fingers over his hand. I knew it was healed now and gave little pain, just like my shoulder, but remembering didn't do me much good to my protective instincts. I still knew how it felt when his pain coursed through me. I shuddered.

Jasper chuckled without humor, looking at my shoulder, "I know, darlin' I know. If the fucker didn't have a death grip on me I would've been takin' down the fucker myself for touchin' ya'."

I sighed and leaned my head back again. "We'll have to figure a way to deal with it. It could get us both killed."

He squeezed my leg making me look at him again, "Being around each other and getting to know one another better, will help. We can do some training shit together, we'll learn what to expect. Getting used to having the emotional bond will just take time. It's new for me too." He told me softy.

"I like the part about gettin' to know you. We haven't spent any time together." I said as I watched his lips curve up.

"I beg to differ, darlin'." He gave me a salacious grin, which I returned. There was that.

"Don't even start again!" Tia said as she came into the room. "Fuckers. I had to take a shower all by myself after hearing your 'gettin' to know each other' session. Don't need remindin' thank ya kindly!"

We laughed at her petulant face.

Jasper nudged me and I turned my attention back to him, "Can you tell me, or…" he trailed off giving a sneaky glance to Tia.

"Oh, yeah, Tia's cool so is Gabriel and Catniss. Both Jeb and Jamie's teams are. They know most of it. They lived through some of it. Spending a lot of time on planes together they know all of it I 'magine." They'd been in the discussions on occasion even.

"What we be discussin'?" Tia asked.

Glancing at her I answered. "Carlisle."

"AH, my favorite sheeet head." Tia being a dhampir knew all about our Dr. C.

Jasper gave her a questioning look. "Let her tell ya', might take 'er all day, but she should be the one ta' tell ya'." Tia told him.

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"Anytime." Tia grinned and sat down across from us.

"So start talkin'." He squeezed my leg again in encouragement.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" I laughed as Tia yelled 'short' and Jasper said 'all of it'.

"Well, the short version is; Carlisle's own research and experiments created dhampirs."

"I thought you said Huilen did?" Jasper interjected.

"He helped. When Peter told ya'll earlier he just mentioned Huilen, he left Carlisle out on purpose because of Em and Rose. Huilen was there. He helped, but Carlisle is directly responsible."

He waved his hand for me to continue.

"The Great Plague of 1665 to 1666-67 in Europe, Huilen upped his game. He'd been at it for a century before Carlisle even showed up. He found taking humans during the plagues was easiest. He took countless woman off the streets, and men for that matter. In the late 1600's, around 1680-85 or so, a young vampire scholar recruited by the Volturi, joined him. Carlisle. Carlisle joined the research with a new eye and new view, and before a decade was out, discovered how to make dhampirs.

Nevell was one of the first. He remembers Carlisle actually. He was only a couple months old when Carlisle and then Huilen up and left. He says he –" he inturupted me.

"He was only two months old and he remembers him?" Jasper asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, dhampirs have perfect vampire recall from the moment they're born. Actually Nevell says he remembers being born and several hours before that. It's hard for him to talk about, but he remembers his birth and his mother dying. He says he remembers Carlisle trying to save his mother, but the venom was too little too late to help."

Jaspers eyebrows rose on his forehead in surprise.

I continued. "He watched Carlisle and Huilen have many fights over the next couple months. Out of the 80 or so women who were impregnated, by means of Carlisle's new methods, only a few lived to give birth to live babies. Only a few survived past the second month. It's very hard on a human's body to carry a vampire fetus. From what Nevell understood, Huilen didn't see the point in saving the women they impregnated, he gave little care to them, and he treated them merely as test subjects. They were treated rather poorly."

Jasper snorted in disgust.

"One day Carlisle didn't come back. Nevell was around a year old. At first Nevell and some of the others thought he was killed. There were other scientists, but they were more like lackeys. Carlisle held his research very close to himself, and it disappeared along with him. Huilen went crazy when he figured out not only did Carlisle leave he took everything with him. All the research. That's when Nevell realized Carlisle actually took off and he wasn't actually killed.

Huilen left, taking what little was left with him. He took some of the other scientists with him too. After all this happened, a couple of the lackeys who stayed behind decided to start where they left off. They made countless more dhampirs. In the beginning, never once, did any of them even attempt to save the woman. Nevell said it was horrible. The lackey's knew how how to make dhampirs, just not the process in which it was successful. They started over with the knowledge just not the know-how. Does that make sense? They began to experiment not only on the vampires and humans, they had the dhampirs now too."

"How long was Nevell there?" Jasper's face was pinched.

"About 120 years." I said.

He whistled, "How many of the babies lived?"

"Out of the 7 dhampirs born before Carlisle and Huilen left only 2 survived. Out of all the women over the 120 years, Nevell only knew of 153 who survived. Once the lackey's figured out how to do it they made as many as they could. There's no telling how many there actually were or are. They were kept separately in cages in the facility with guards around the clock. It's likely there were more. Lots more. Nevell got to know a couple of the woman who worked there doing research. He helped them start saving the woman who gave birth." I said.

"How did he do that?" He asked.

"All they had to do was keep track of the timeline and give the woman an injection of venom before childbirth. It was like inducing labor. They didn't feel the child even being born as the venom took them into the change."

"Whoa. So, there's dhampir mothers out there alive?" He was surprised.

"Yes, actually you've met one of them. Jamie. She came from the same lab as Nevell. Time went by and he eventually convinced the researchers to help him and the others in his wing escape. 23 dhampirs and vampires who attempted to break free, only 3 dhampirs and 1 vampire succeeded making it out of the front gates."

"What happened to all the others?" Jasper asked.

"The ones who weren't killed in the escape, well, one dhampir you know, Nevell, one dhampir died years later in a fight. The other dhampir was Jamie's daughter, Kaia, you've heard us mention before, and then of course Jamie herself. As for the others left behind, Nevell has run into some over the years. More have escaped since he left, some he's met even escaped before he did. The lab it all started in isn't even there anymore, we don't know where it was moved to, or if it was moved at all, it's possible the Volturi stepped in and took them all out. Highly unlikely, but possible."

"No one knows why Carlisle left? Why didn't they take what they created with them?" he asked me incredulously.

"No. No one we have ever run into knows the answer to either question. Carlisle's showed up on Eleazar's front door asking for asylum from the Volturi. Eleazar granted it. I would imagine trying to hide something like that would have been too hard. Maybe Carlisle was too afraid to try to save any of them, or he was… I just don't know, honestly. It is strange Huilen didn't take some. It might have been too hard to escape with them in tow. That's the only thing we can think of, that and he was out-bound to make his own. He knew how, why would he have to take when he could create?" I said with a shrug.

"Where's all the research?" Jasper asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I smirked.

"He doesn't have his own labs does he?" his voice low, I knew he was talking about Carlisle.

"Not that we know of, no. That doesn't mean he's not involved. He sends potential humans to the Volturi." I informed him.

"HE WHAT?" Jasper raged. His hands fisted on my legs and his face contorted in fury.

"He works at hospitals." I put my hands on his fists and stared into his eyes willing him to calm down some so he would hear me, running my thumbs over his hands rhythmically. He took deep breaths grabbing my hands, allowing himself to come back to earth. When he got control he nodded to me.

"Remember we told you the start of this whole thing was to find potential humans with latent skills?" he nodded, "Carlisle would have access to the research. We never said they weren't successful in finding talent. You've heard of Jane and Alec? Even Demetri?" I asked.

He slowly nodded putting the pieces together.

"They came from discovering how to find latent talents. Or they have help somehow. Let's just stick with-" he cut me off again.

"You mean Alice?" Jasper snarled. He really had been thinking this through.

"Yes, but we truly believe it came from research in the beginning with the Volturi. It is possible, Alice was involved then, but we can't actually prove it. Timelines don't really match up for that to be the case, but it is possible. We just don't know how. Her whereabouts are hard to pin down. Though, her being with Carlisle now and him finding these people would suggest she has a part in it now. Yes." I sighed. "Fuck it's complicated."

"I'd say." Jasper agreed dryly.

"We intercept the ones we find out about before they make it to Europe, if we can. Being a doctor he can tell a patient anything. Tell them they have some rare disease and send them to Europe to be cured. Only when they get there…." I trailed off. "The question is, does Eleazar know? He wouldn't condone Carlisle sending people to the Volturi, his enemy. From what I've heard of Eleazar I find it unlikely he even knows anything. And we can't trace anything to him. So it makes you wonder why Carlisle defected to him to begin with if he was going to continue doing this. Or did Alice catch up to him and make him get back into it."

"Why don't you have Carlisle locked up?" He asked.

"There are a lot of middle men we don't know about. By not letting on we know anything, we're hoping Carlisle will fuck up and panic. He'll make contact with some of the upper people involved. Let him think it's about the others and not anything to do with him. Without Alice, I think Carlisle will start making phone calls when he thinks it's safe."

"What about Edward?" he asked.

"Yes, well, we don't know about Edward's true involvement in all of this either. He would have to know right? The mind reading and all. Carlisle created him. He's all chummy with Alice. We've never really found a link to him in any of it. He's like a passenger on the train. From when I talked to him earlier it clarified that point a bit. He could be playing me, but I truly think he doesn't know some of this shit, or he got tangled in it somehow against his will. Alice convinced him he was my mate. He truly believed I was. I don't think he would've tried to save my life if he'd thought otherwise."

"You think Alice has something to do with his involvement somehow?" he asked.

"He disappeared for nearly 10 years; we don't know what happened during that time. I think we're missing a huge puzzle piece there." I told him.

"You think Alice is holding something on him?" he asked.

"We believe so." I said. "He showed up after you guys came to the Cullens. He never raised a fit about you all being there, from what I understand."

He shook his head.

"That's a little odd." I said. "Although he could have been meeting up with Alice to do something for her. Maybe he knew about her before that." I shrugged.

"What about Rosalie and Emmett?" he asked.

"Well it's another oddity, isn't it? It's the only truly puzzling thing we can find Carlisle ever doing since he left, is changing those two. He may have really turned Rose for Edward. Emmett was Rosalie's doing."

He studied me for a minute. "Because Edward has a gift. Rose… was meant for Edward. Or do you think he was experimenting on Rose somehow? What about Esme?"

"Esme is Carlisle's true mate. I imagine he changed her for that soul purpose. The other's there's some questions there." I said.

"Some?" Tia piped up. "Try a hundred or so." She snorted.

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked her.

"Well. Carlisle made Edward right? Supposedly for a mother's wish. Carlisle was right in the middle of another plague outbreak which was killin' thousands… millions of people. Yes I realize it was worldwide and Carlisle is a doctor. But it's a little bit funny tastin' he was workin' to save people in it and happened to change Edward. So it leaves the question how did he know? Just a fluke? I think not." Tia snorted again disbelievingly "I don't believe the theory the Volturi found a way to identify latent talents. I think lil' Miss Full-O'-Shit had a huge hand in it all."

Jasper was lost in thought.

"They're both from the Volturi." She shrugged continuing. "How did he find a mind reader in all of those he was treatin'? Why are they workin' together is a better question. Is Carlisle's sire the same as Alice's? Are they both infiltrating Eleazar's Line to over throw him, or are they playin' some other game? How do they even know each other? When did they hook up?" she rambled.

"Carlisle doesn't know his sire." Jasper interrupted her ramble, and I thought I was bad with the ramblin'. Humph. "He was killed by the mob that was with Carlisle…" Jasper he trailed off.

"No one knows if those vampire's were killed or not. Says he woke up and ran away." She said shaking her head. "How does he know the mob killed the vampire who changed him? If there really was a mob. Look at Alice's story of the asylum. What's fact and fiction with those two?"

"Its also possible Carlisle doesn't even know who Alice truly is. He may just be ignorant to the whole thing. It could be possible he found Edward by fluke or from some know-how from research. He could finding those people and sending them to Europe by himself. Even if Alice told him, that doesn't mean they knew each other before that." I chipped in.

"I can see where you would think it's not likely." Tia said, "It's hard to believe he did research trying to find latent talents in humans and finds Edward and changes him. He could have done it on his own without Alice. Sure, but you know I'm right."She gave me the hairy eyeball. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yes, I do. It looks like they knew each other. But I try to keep an open mind about how this all falls into place. It's going to be ugly either way. We have to be prepared for both scenarios." I told her. "It does leave a bad taste in the mouth." I finished agreeing with her. She gave me a strong head nod. "Then there's the whole Edward involvement."

"No shit." She said. Jasper looked like he was watching a tennis match.

We went round and round in circles coming up with theories. Jasper chipped in and a fresh perspective gave us even more shit to think about. How the web of lies and deceit went throughout Volturi, Alice, and Carlisle. Possibly Edward. Their sires or possible sires. Even the possibilities of Eleazar being a part of the tangle.

"I can see now." Jasper said after a lull in our musings. "I hate to say it, I see where it would lead you all to leave me there. This whole thing is a house of cards." He closed his eyes as the guilt splashed over me.

"We didn't want to-" I started to defend.

"No, don't. I get it, I do, Isabella. It still fucking hurts, but it's understandable after hearing all this shit. But, if I wouldn't have left you, or dug further when I found out you died-"

It was my turn to cut him off, "You would have found me and unknowingly started a war. We wouldn't have had any idea what was coming at us. Things happen for a reason. I wouldn't have met Nevell before he found Carlisle…" I trailed off leaving all that could have happened left unsaid. "Things were supposed to happen this way."

"You believe that?" he murmured.

"I didn't before I met Nevell. Then it's kinda hard to deny. He found me before confronting Carlisle. Can you imagine what Alice would have done? Nevell would be dead at the very least. No, this happened the way it was meant to. I have to believe it, to think otherwise would drive me mad."

(=+=++=+=+=+=+=++)

We stopped for fuel along the way. None of us moved off the plane. Tia and I tended to our wounded giving them blood and raw steak. It was sunny out and none of us felt like painting ourselves up just to get back on and wash off again.

We were almost home when Jasper asked what we needed to know from Alice. We discussed it and a strategy of how to get it.

The closer we got the more Major peeked out of Jaspers eyes. Monstress joined him in mine. Her anticipation was palpable.

We fell silent after that. When we were told the jet was going to be landing Tia spoke up.

"The true question after it's all said and done, is what are they doing with all these creations?"

Makes one pause, doesn't it? When it all comes undone, what was the real reason?

(=+=+=+=+=====+++)

By the time we got back it was almost dark out again. Edward and Alice had been tied up now for over 50 hours.

Delivering data to Mac's place and the normal chitchat and usual instructions Jasper and I set off to the waterfall.

Everyone was apprehensive about the new species. The giants were something we had never seen before, and everyone wanted to know details. Jamie's team would take samples, have them analyzed and sent to us when she got results. We'd find out what they were, if not where they came from. If it was possible there were more of those out there… it even made me shudder. They hadn't proven easy to kill. Nothing was, I suppose, if you didn't sneak up on it. Made me wonder though what else they'd created. It made everyone uneasy.

After playtime in the shower, Jasper and I talked about a game plan again. We decided Alice would go first. I would stay behind the glass until Jasper got to a point he wanted me in there or I couldn't take it anymore. I figured I didn't have much place to argue from the shit he just got drug through. He had more right than I did to get questions out of her about his past. Doing that without me visible would go easier.

Cheese set us up with cameras and blood for Alice. Cameras would record the entire thing. Peter and Charlotte made sure to reiterate that over and over. We took the hint.

The blood…well Jasper informed us she hadn't fed in seven days now. It had been over 60 hours since we first picked them all up. She would need something. Jasper decided he wanted animal blood before talking to her. Between the fight and trauma he went through in the last days he probably needed it. It was trying on all of us. I drank more blood in the last few days than I needed. I went with him nevertheless, to watch and gather some for Alice if we needed it.

As we walked down the tunnel to Alice's unit I felt as if we were walking to an execution. I made Jasper promise not to harm her to the point she would serve useless. We needed answers and we weren't sure if Edward would co-operate or know what we needed. Dragging it out of Alice might deem fruitless, but we had to try. We didn't want her dead yet. We needed to know who was pulling her strings in the Volturi. I told him about the tools in the room. He laughed again at Edward getting hit with a baseball bat.

I walked into the observation room before Jasper entered the room. As I walked in Sarah was doing finishing touches, she looked up and gave me a warm smile to which I returned. Alice couldn't see us but she could hear us.

Looking out the glass I came face to face, sorta speak, with my nemesis. Anticipation flowed through me and my nostrils flared taking in her scent.

She was tied to the wall with her hands stretched out to her sides in a cross. Her feet were tied to the wall together at the floor. It didn't look comfortable. Her eyes closed and her head tipped back, face showing no emotion. If you didn't know better, you would think she was asleep.

Peter's way to shut her up was to tie bindings around her head. I snickered glanced at Sarah and then back at Alice. She needed to talk, I didn't want Jasper getting close to her without a Billy club, and so I used my gift to unwrap her. As the bindings moved her head jerked forward looking around the room. Her eyes looked a little panicked. She didn't say anything just made a strangled noise.

The door hissed open and her head jerked to look at Jasper. She was a bit jumpy.

"Jasper? OH, Jasper-" Her face took on a relieved glow.

"Shut up, Alice." He growled at her. He didn't even give her a second glance as he walked over to the table at the far side of the room.

"Wh aa tt? Jasper we need to-" she stuttered as she watched him pick up a bat and turn it over in his hands. He smirked and shook his head. He slapped it a few times into his other hand looking as if he were testing its weight and measure. "You have to get... Jazzy..."

"No, WE don't need to do anything. You're out of the loop Alice." As he held the bat up to the light.

Her face was precious, a mix of fear and crazy. She opened her mouth to speak again but he beat her to the punch.

"Maria told me everything. Don't worry about it." he said nonchalantly. We had discussed at length what rout he was going to take with her. I agreed whole hardily. I thought it was a great plan to get her to talk. It would take her off guard.

There was a pause as her eyes bugged and then grew confused and cautious.

"Maria? What does she have to do with this?" She asked. You could hear the edge her voice suddenly took.

He turned to her then, "Maria. You know, your protégée. _That_ Maria. She's filled me in. You don't have to explain. She did enough of that for you." He kept his voice neutral, giving her nothing to believe he wasn't fucking with her.

If her face could have turned red I'm sure it would have been fire engine by now. I could still see her fear though.

"What are you talking about? Peter and that fucking bitch Charlotte-" She started.

"Are with Maria again." He finished for her.

"I don't believe you." She hissed.

"We all are. Don't worry your sweet little head about them." he told her.

"Where are they, where's Maria? I want to talk to her if she's here! She can't take you back to the south! I won't let her take you from me, Jazzy! Peter and Char-" she sounded desperate.

"Oh, Peter and Charlotte will be watching, don't worry. We flipped a coin. I get to go first. They weren't happy about it but," he shrugged his shoulders, "they'll get over it."

"Your…eyes…they're….you drank-?" She finally got a look at his eyes. She looked horrified.

"Oh, yes, I've been out killing, again. Being back with Maria, you didn't think I'd stick with animal diet knowing it weakens my gift did you?" Funny that. How easy it is to twist the words spoken carelessly to make them full truth and a lie all in one.

He slapped the bat in his hands again a couple of times again, and shook his head, turning back to the table he picked up a vamp-ash whip. I wish I could see his face better, but the look on Alice' was priceless, contorted in disgust and fear. What a combo.

He held the whip up and cracked it toward Alice just barely missing her. She let out a little squeak and began to stutter and fall all over her words. You couldn't even make out what she wanted to say. The sound echoed off the cave walls as he snapped it again.

"Jazzy!" she sobbed. Pleading desperation crept into her eyes.

"I didn't believe Maria at first. I did try to stick up for you. But when she told me you sent Laurent to kill my mate-" Jasper gave her part truth only a few knew. Trying to get any doubt out of her head what he was telling her was absolute truth.

"What! I didn't kill her! Victor…." She trailed off. Her eyes came up from watching him with the whip to meet his glare. The look of fright at her slip was glorious.

Not having blood for a few days locked in a room all by your lonesome with various devices of torture… will do that. Then add in Maria's name right from the get go? Jasper's red eyes. He was right, he threw her off her game within a minute. She had nowhere to go but down from here.

"I mean… I … I … what? She told you that? Jasper! She's lying- … Laurent-" she tried coming up with something to say as he raised the whip and cracked it again, nodding his head in approval.

"No she didn't tell. Edward did, right before he got whacked with the bat and smoked over the fire." He gave an evil chuckle, "he was quite talkative, the little pussy. That usually happens when your life is hanging by threads. Literally." He was so casual it was hard to believe I could feel his rage inside me simmering with my own.

I glanced at Sarah; she didn't seem to be feeling the affects of it. My arms were crossed on my chest my hands balled as tight as they would go. My knees locked, my teeth were going to bust out of my head if they were clamped any tighter. It was the bond rather than his projection of his gift.

"Edward?" she turned angry, "Edward?" she sneered again, "Edward wouldn't know what was good for him if he was hit in the head with the best pussy on earth! That little fucker, when I get my hands on him-"

"OH, but that won't be happenin', your aren't listenin' too well. He's already ash. Don't worry about him." Jasper told her.

"I want to talk to Maria. NOW!" she demanded.

"That won't be possible. It's my turn to talk." He turned to her with bolt cutters. "See, I know the truth now. I would kill Maria if she walked in here and disrupted my playtime, and she knows it. This is between you and me. Did you think you would get away with it? Didn't you see this comin'?"

"I can't see anything! I told you that! Something is blocking… my vision! Jazzy, please, something is wrong-" she screeched looking at his tool of choice as he walked to her.

"Oh, yes I know something is wrong. You won't be seeing anything ever again. You told Maria about the wolves." He threw his head back and laughed as Alice's face went stony white again. "All she had to do was go get one, use it to her advantage at the right moment and viola. You're pretty little head went black. Genius really. Now she can take over where you left off, with you out of the way it will happen much faster now."

"SHE can't do that! I have everything nearly ready! If she fucks this up we'll all be killed! She doesn't know everything, jazzy! She knows that! I want to fucking talk to her! How dare she defy me!" She shrieked and pulled on her restraints.

"Oh, she's made concessions for problems. With the wolves interfering with your visions she was able to arbitrate everything you missed. You're sloppy. Tsk, Tsk. You've detoured from the plan long enough. She's been planning this for years. She's got more than enough without you interfering. It's time for you to step aside." He said.

"I am not going to put up with her insobor-" she started.

"Oh Alice." he said condescendingly. "Haven't you figured it out? We don't need you. It took me a while to come around, but you know… drinking human blood, letting the Major out again… I can't deny it just feels right. Besides the clincher was you sending someone to kill my mate. I don't want your back stabbing murdering ass around anymore. Maria was going to keep you, but we made deal I would join her if she let me kill you."

"You are mine! I love you, Jazzy! She has no right! I found you! I made you! I'm the one who can see if it will work! Let me go, Jazzy, we don't need her, whatever lies she's told you we-" her eyes took on this look of pure horror and a bit a crazy.

He looked at her and cocked his head. "Maria sired me, not you. We're connected in a way you and I will never be-"

"You are mine!" she screamed, "I told her that! That was the deal! She knows she would have never found you without me! She was only supposed to train you! She doesn't get you! I worked hard for this! I planned for this. That fucking backstabbing bitch! I want to fucking talk to her now!" struggling to free herself. She looked like a lunatic.

He stared at her.

She was panting from her rant and quieted her struggling under Jasper's intensity. She confirmed for him she knew him before.

"She has me now." He said flatly. "You sent them to kill my mate. You had me changed. You had Edward changed." Her eyes grew huge at that one. "Why would I want you? You're a has-been. Old news."

"I didn't kill her! I didn't change Edward, what are you talking about?" she yelled.

"You got Carlisle to change Edward." He stated.

"The fuck I DID! Who the fuck told you that? Maria? Carlisle that fucking pussy-" she gnashed her teeth.

He let her rant.

"I had to get rid of Bella." She sneered changing the subject. "She would have torn everything a part! She would have destroyed what we have together!" she cried.

He scoffed. "What do we have? Nothing. I got nothing out of the deal. Tired of talking." He grabbed her fisted hand.

"Don't do this! Please! She would have ruined everything! Your mine! I made you who you are. No one loves you like I do!" she pleaded staring at the cutters in his hand.

He took her fisted hand and wrenched her fingers open, then looked at her. "You made me weak, you turned me into to someone you could control. The woman I'm with now would never do that do me. She respects what I'm capable of. She would never dress me or make me change my diet knowing it made me weak and pathetic. She knows ME better than you ever have. She admires my skills in bed too Alice." he snorted harshly. "She's quite the wild cat."

I snorted, and shook my head. Jesus, how corny and adorable is he? Monstress sneezed in agreement. It made her swell with pride.

He put the bolt cutter around her finger "NO! Listen... listen... to me! I had... had to do it!" she wailed.

He snipped.

Her finger fell to the ground twitching.

Alice screamed as venom sprayed the floor and wall. Jasper sidestepped the spray and backed off as Alice jerked in her restraints.

"FUCK!" she gritted her teeth and tried to get control of herself. It was extremely painful to loose a part of your body. Venom now dripped steadily from her stub and she fisted her hand. Making her weaker and giving her pain we could possibly get some real answers now.

"Does it hurt?" Jasper scrunched his brow as if that was news to him.

"Fuck you!" she spat. Her eyes black as coal. "Please… please"

"NO. I told you, I don't like fucking dead fish. Don't beg it's unbecoming." He sneered. "I always put you first and all you did was take from me. You controlled almost every aspect of my life until a few days ago. Even after we got divorced 20 years ago you still had a hold on me. Dressed me. Shamed me into not drinking human blood, told me what I should and shouldn't do or where to go just in case my blood lust took over. Made me go to fucking high school. What the fuck is that about anyway? Putting a bloodthirsty starved vampire in the middle of a classroom of kids? Control? Put me in situations with a bunch of other bloodthirsty vampires so I could feel their bloodlust as well as mine? You're off your rocker!"

"It worked!" she laughed harshly. "You have to admit it was a great distraction. You were so preoccupied you didn't even know what was going on around you!" she was angry now. "If we had done anything else you would have…"

"Would have what? Caught on? Figured out there's more to the family than meets the eye? Used my gift more to figure out you were lying?"

"Take your pick. You were so easy to manipulate." She laughed harshly again "Followed me around like a little puppy-" she'd given up her act.

She cut off as he took another finger and snipped it off. It landed with the other one and she wailed in pain. Her head thrown back so hard some of the cave wall chipped off around her. Shards sprayed out around them.

She panted; squeezing her eyes shut riding the pain. A few minutes later she opened them.

"I think we should get down to the real shit now. I'm curious, what did you have on Edward? He never would say. Took your little secret to the grave he did. I gave him credit for that one. He was loyal to you, maybe you should have chose him instead of me."

"That fucking pussy." She panted. She chuckled darkly. "He was too loyal to Carlisle and the family. I needed to break up that little foray. It was easy really." She tried to smile and it came out looking like a grimace.

"How's that?" Jasper asked genuinely curious. "Little Mr. Perfect with a flaw?"

Her dark laughter deepened, "You could say that. He had a penchant for women's blood."

Jasper shrugged, "So, everyone knows he took off for a few years to sow his oats, that doesn't surprise me."

"Yeah, but he did it so much he brought attention to himself. Or so he thought. It was easy." she snarled.

"So, you blackmailed him? Just because he killed a few woman? He knows there's vampires that have done worse." Jasper said.

She shook her head and looked at Jasper. "Not all vampires get the chance to kill the guards ordered to come take care of you though." She smiled evilly, "So naïve. He thought the Volturi stepped in because he liked to fuck woman and then drink them. If the Volturi _had_ stepped in Eleazar and Carlisle would have gone to war with them. It was genius really."

"So how did the Vulturi miss guards and not come after them?"

"They weren't from the Volturi. They were vampires I borrowed from my… from someone else. I got them to go after Edward pretending they were from the 'Royal Guard'. It matched what he was already told about the Volturi. Carlisle has his ways." She said mysteriously. "Then it was only a matter of helping him kill the last one. Three against one, he didn't do to bad, the last one would have killed them though. I helped so it wouldn't happen."

Holy hell. I was the one whose eyes were wide open. She set the fucker up, and then used him to get to Carlisle and the family. His life seemed to be as much of a pawn as Jaspers.

Whoa.

Evil fucking bitch.

Sounded like she and Carlisle knowing each other before Edward was confirmed. Maybe that's why he'd told Edward and the others the Volturi were the kingpins. Did she have something on Carlisle then? Or was it a voluntary partnership?

"So you're saying you set him up with Volturi wannabe's, let him kill them, then blackmailed him, tellng him you would go to the Volturi and let them know who killed their guard?" Jasper said incredulously.

I had to admit it was evil genius. So Edward's part in this was something he was led into doing. So what was Carlisle's part? How far into this was Carlisle? It was more than just the experiments. We knew Alice knew about it. She had to.

"Carlisle convinced his family they were royalty. It was easy from there on," she told him proudly.

Jasper was quiet. I didn't know if he was reeling like I was. Carlisle knew Alice long before she came to the family. Why did she need Edward then? It wasn't to get into the family like we thought.

I stiffened. My brain went crazy putting pieces together. It was part of the puzzle we could never figure out. Never made real sense. We tried to make the pieces fit, but they just didn't quiet work. Now we just needed to know when and how.

Alice knew Carlisle before even Edward. They changed him for his mind skills? Had she known or was it Carlisle? Of course she could have, she'd known Jasper would be empathic. She would have known about Edward. Why did they change Rosalie and Emmett? Did they have latent talents too? Rose hadn't ever had human blood. It was possible I suppose. I just didn't see it though. They could've changed Emmett to console and shut up Rose. But why make Rose in the first place? Or was Rose really a distraction for Edward and since it didn't pan out they blackmailed him. How did Edward not know all this?

"Edward never in all these years caught on? I find that hard to believe." Jasper said.

She shrugged. He reached over without warning and snipped a finger from her other hand. She let out another wail. "SON OF A..."she whimpered and panted.

"Answer the question!" he ordered before she stopped screaming.

Panting she told him, "Edward.. can only read.. surface thoughts. We were... careful around him, but... it was easy. Just like... you, "she sneered, "he can't access his gift well without proper feeding. We weren't made to drink from... fucking animals. We were never animals."

"What about your gift?" she said nothing.

He walked over to the table and grabbed the hot poker, turning on the hot plate Peter invented to heat metal. The hot plate was turned into a mini-camp fire of sorts. Instead of just a circle of flame to warm a pot on, it blew one large flame up. Jasper rested the branding iron in the holder Peter created for it and watched as it gradually turned red.

"Tell me now Alice. Tell me why your gift works and the rest of ours were tampered down. Tell me who's in the Volturi pulling your strings. Tell me when you first met Carlisle."

Alice got a funny look on her face. "You don't… Maria… she didn't tell you?" then her face warped into an 'OH FUCK' look."Maria isn't here is she?" she whispered. Her brain finally seemed to surface long enough to realize his questions were something he should have already known, if Maria were truly here. Pain distracted her until now.

Jasper laughed and shrugged a shoulder. "No."

"How.. how did…" she was confused now. Jasper turned to the mirror to look at me.

I smiled. I got to brand her.

I looked at Sarah nodded and she nodded back with an evil smirk of her own.

I walked out of the room, placed my hand on the sensor and the door hissed open. I stepped in and was so happy we were recording this. Alice's face couldn't be described.

All the years of waiting came to this moment. Me walking out of my grave and back into Alice's life.

I smiled at her showing her my teeth and walked over to Jasper who turned to greet me. He leaned down slightly and kissed me for everything he had. I gave it back. I even moaned. Not for affect of our audience, but the man knew what he was doing.

He pulled back a little and pecked me a couple of times. Then against my lips loud enough of Alice to hear he told me "Glad you could make it, darlin."

"Wouldn't want to miss this for the world." And nipped his lip.

He chuckled and turned to tend to the branding iron.

I turned slightly to face Alice.

"Hey best friend. How are you?" my voice patronizing.

She just stared at me and flinched as my smile grew even more toothy.

"What's a matter? Cat got your tongue?" Monstress sneezed. Was that a laugh? She snorted at me harder. Guess not.

"I'd say it's good to see you, but…well, you're looking quiet comfortable up there. Jasper's let you off a little easy." I pursed my lips and cocked my head. "I think I should help him out."

Jasper turned handing me the iron.

"I believe," I said walking to her, "my mate asked you some questions."

I held up the poker and she screamed.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=++++===++=)

**OUCH!**

**Ok. What did you think? **

**There was quiet a bit more on the information front. **

**Alice seemed to figure out too late Jasper was fucking with her. She's been sitting in there a little long with no blood and the trauma she went through getting caught, the energy she put forth trying to get out of her restraints, loosing venom, yeah... it kinda wore her down and distracted her. **

**Now it's Monstress' turn to inflict some pain. OH NO.**

**Sorry about all the typo's. I'm lookin for a beta. I wasn't sure if this story would go too far, but the responce I keep getting... I'll finish it. It will probably be around 25 or more chapters, and have a sequel if there's enough demand. We'll wait and see.**

**Have a great weekend!**

**Look forward to reading your responce to the first chapter with Alice.**

**See you next weekend!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm posting a few days early. I got this done and couldn't wait to share.**

**Thanks for the great reviews! The more I get the faster I seem**

**to write. They're a great motivator. If I missed answering your review, I apologize, I read every one and loved them all! **

**So thank you! You're all quite colorful with the compliments. I truly enjoy reading them.**

**Thanks for all the interest with the fav's and alerts! **

**Funny so many of you mentioned the bat….**

**SM owns Twilight, I own this one! **

**Enjoy!**

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

Previously;

"_Hey best friend. How are you?" my voice patronizing._

_She just stared at me and flinched, as my smile grew even toothier._

_"What's a matter? Cat got your tongue?" Monstress sneezed. Was that a laugh? She snorted at me harder. Guess not._

_"I'd say it's good to see you, but…well, you're looking quite comfortable up there. Jasper's let you off a little easy." I pursed my lips and cocked my head. "I think I should help him out."_

_Jasper turned handing me the iron._

_"I believe," I said walking to her, "my mate asked you some questions."_

_I held up the poker and she screamed._

~ **Monstress Said Knock You Out!** ~

~Izzy POV~

Without hesitation I held the branding iron to her neck.

Her scream choked into gurgles as she shrieked and wrenched against her binds. She tried to clench her jaw shut, but it was no use, her strangled high-pitched scream leaked out piercing the air, bouncing off the cave walls.

"Hand me the Vaseline, please," I told Jasper, I could feel his tension in the air from her pain emitting into the room.

He held it for me as I watched Alice's neck start to give off little tiny flickering flames as heat met venom. Removing the iron I took two fingers dipping it in the jar, smearing it into her brand.

"We don't want you catchin' fire now do we." I snarked, putting out all the little hot spots flaring on her neck.

"Not yet anyway," Jasper amended snidely.

"So true." I sighed.

We watched her thrash as venom tears actually made it out of her eyes, sliding slowly down her cheeks. Incoherent rambling took over her screams.

When she finally ran out of steam and began to settle down, she tipped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes moaning. If a vampire ever looked worn out it was she.

I stepped back and leaned up against the wall, crossing my arms looking at Jasper, his eyes questioning and black as coal. I shook my head slightly, he was doing great with the questions, after what I just did, she wouldn't answer me anyway. I was here for punishment and visual affect. I motioned with my chin to Alice.

His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store and raised an eyebrow at me, as if saying 'ya sure, darlin'?"

I gave him a grin and a quick nod. He nodded with a wicked smile. He wasn't done with Alice yet.

"Wake the fuck up Mary-Alice. You have some answerin' to do," He barked at her making the banshee wince, "We'll be here as long as we need, might as well get it over with. You talk about my mate like that again, I'll be brandin' your ass, or the bottoms of your feet." Jasper's once neutral voice he held so carefully, took a back seat to a new darkness.

"The dagger," He stated inspecting Alice's neck. "For betrayal, right?"

"Yes. Or danger. It's a warning to others," I shrugged a shoulder.

"Do you have one for double crosser, or how bout thief, necromancy, black magic?" Jasper asked his voice dripping malice.

"I'm sure we can come up with something." I grinned.

"You guys have been busy" Jasper remarked impressed.

I gave him the best evil smile, "Oh, yes. I've waited a long time for this. Lots of time to think."

"Yo… you … fuck… won't get…away…with this." Except for her lips, she didn't move.

"I believe we already have." Jasper told her snidely.

"They…come… fo… you," she rasped.

"I believe you think too highly of yourself. You, my dear, are merely cannon fodder. Besides, they don't know where to look for the body." I proudly told her.

She laughed harshly as she tipped her head up, "You… don't… even know… what's going on." her words biting.

"Which part don't we know? Your origin? Your activities? Your source in Volterra? Your objective? The Labs? Huilen? Volturi involvement? You being Maria's sire? James, Laurent, and Victoria's sire? Carlisle's experiments? Carlisle sending the humans you see to Volterra? Which part don't we know?" Jasper quipped rattling off random shit at her.

She jerked in her restraints as her eyes widened then narrowed at him.

"We do know more. It's all I've been doing, sweet cheeks, since I woke up to this world, finding all your lil' o' secrets. It's given me great pleasure to bring down the Mistress of the South." Nastiness laced my words.

She turned her glare to me; she whispered, "You're dead."

"Maybe, but not by you. Did your pretty little skull tell you that? What else did that head of yours tell you? Did it let you know your going to die?" I teased.

Alice gritted her teeth, "I should… have killed you… myself."

"You won't be going near my mate, Alice." Jasper's eyes were like black fire as he stared at her, "Why don't you tell us something useful."

"You're my mate." Alice snarked.

I lurched forward grabbing her chin and slammed her head into the wall. Shards and dust flew around us. She squeezed her eyes shut making an unnnggghhhh sound, as her jaw was slammed shut.

"Open your eyes princess." I hissed.

She flinched clenching them tighter.

"How 'bout I cut your eyelids off? Would you like that? You can watch-" I stopped as her eyes flew open to look me straight in the eye. I lifted her off the ground, slowly sliding her up the wall until she was eye level with me.

Her eyes were jet back. They looked like black holes filled with pain and fear.

"Jasper is my mate." I said through clenched teeth. Monstress peering out of my eyes to stare at the frightened little girl we held to the wall. "Make no mistake about it."

Monstress snarled and Alice's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she registered movement in my eyes.

Her face one of horror; I could smell her fear as she and Monstress stared at each other.

"Don't fuck with me, don't fuck with my mate." I growled low and deadly.

She swallowed hard, and finally found breath to pant through her nose. My eyes never left hers as I let go of her and moved to lean back against my wall. I wanted blood; I wanted her head on a stake. I contained my anger and rage and fisted my hands behind me.

Not yet.

"_MOOoorrreee_" Monstress hissed.

"What.. the hell was…." She sputtered never taking her eyes off me.

I smiled, "Want to find out?"

Alice choked, swallowed venom and managed to sputter out, "You… can't do… shit… you _bitch_."

Monstress roared.

I barely saw Jasper move as he blurred toward her. I didn't even see him pick up the bat.

The next thing I registered was Jasper standing with a smug look on his face, and Alice's newly acquired dent in the side of her head. Her head resting limp on her chest.

She didn't move.

She didn't pant.

She wasn't breathing.

No twitches.

Nothing.

I froze taking in the scene before me.

I didn't breath. I couldn't hear Jasper breathing.

Jasper finally snorted glancing at me, then back at her. He held up the bat and looked at it.

"Did… did you just knock her out?" I asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, I believe I did." His voice held a bit of admiration as he looked down at the bat.

I looked back to Alice, still unmoving. The large dent in her temple made her looked deformed and gruesome.

Then Jasper snickered.

I felt the tension, along with the anger; hatred and blackness once building around us slowly slip away as his humor seeped into the room.

Jasper looked up at me with a huge smile plastered to his face.

I smiled back and he let go of a titter, caught himself and pressed his lips together, his eyes filling quickly with mirth.

I couldn't contain my chuckle as I watched him start to loose it, I glanced once more to Alice; completely limp and unresponsive.

She was out fucking cold.

"Holy shit. I've never seen that happen. Fuck, how hard did you hit her?" my voice becoming a little high pitched.

He gave me a reproachful look. "I didn't hit her that hard. She's not dead. She still has her head for fuck sake."

"Hey, whoa… I aint complainin' cowboy, simmer. I'm just in shock. That was beautiful! I barely saw you move! Are you sure she's just out?" the excitement crept into my voice as I stared at her. I couldn't help it. Jasper's giddiness at knocking her out was overtaking me.

"Oh, yeah. She's comatose." Jasper said with a sharp nod, just to prove it he reached over and flicked her ear.

Nothing.

I burst into laughter throwing my head back in shear joy. I couldn't stop it. I never, in all the interrogations we'd done, ever seen it happen. I'd hit people in the head lots of times, no one, and I mean no one, ever fucking passed the fuck out.

I was full on belly laughing.

Uncontrolled hilarity.

I looked up through venom filled eyes to see Jasper bent over at the waist, hands on his knees in a fit of his own.

Alice never twitched.

Never took a breath.

Oh fuck.

I sobered up enough to really look at her. My chuckles died down as I took in her form.

"She's not dead, right?" I made sure.

Jasper wiped his eyes and studied her for a minute. "Nah." He poked her again, this time with the bat. I don't know what it was about the action, maybe the look of disgust when he did it, but I burst into laughter all over again.

He looked like he was poking something that might wake up and puke green pea soup on him.

Jasper chuckled and walked to me. "Oh yeah, darlin', she's down for the count," he pouted, "Shit, and it was going so well," he sounded so sad, petulant and sarcastic all in one.

My laughter took over again and we were both soon in another round of merriment. I don't think I had ever laughed so hard.

I could hear laughter behind the glass and out in the hallway as Jasper's euphoria overflowed.

Finally we calmed enough and I remembered what sobered me the first time.

"She's not going to heal like that. Well, she might, but it would take a year. She doesn't have enough blood in 'er to fucking do much good." I sighed, letting out another chuckle before they died completely. Something seemed to have released in my chest. I didn't even know it was there until I realized it was missing.

I didn't want to give her blood. I didn't want her to wake up. I wanted to let her hang there until the end of time. Did we really need her? Would it be so bad just to leave her and walk away forever?

"We can give her a little and see if it wakes her up, not too much. Just enough. Lil' by lil' until she regains consciousness." He suggested.

"Yeah, ok." I sighed relenting, letting my inner musing go unvoiced. We really did need answers. "Peter's going to shit. Fucker probably knew. I wondered why he was so adamant about the video cameras when he knows we record all our interrogations." I looked to the glass as Nevell and Sarah's laughter finally faded.

After I joined Jasper in the room I had heard someone join Sarah. Nevell's deep laughter gave him away.

"Where is ol' Peter now?" I asked the glass.

"He's an hour out from landing. If you'd turn on your earpiece you would know that." He tried to reprimand.

"Everything go ok?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it's all good. But turn on your COM." He told me.

"Will you bring me a of bag o' blood from in there?" I asked him and ignored his demand.

I turned back to Jasper staring at Alice. He turned to me.

"Do you want to feed her?" He asked. I thought about it. Not really I didn't, I wanted to let her hang there forever. I tried to picture Jasper feeding her and wrinkled my nose as Monstress put a claw in me. Not a good idea for him to feed her, or anyone else besides me. He especially wasn't ever going to feed cunt-pire. I sure as hell wasn't doing it.

"Not especially. How 'bout we get either Nevell or someone else do it." I saw Jasper's relief. He knew too it wouldn't be good for either of us to feed her. Not in mating heat. Never Alice.

The door slid open and Nevell came in. "Ya'll are going to make me feed her? Fuck, I always get the best jobs." He said sarcastically.

"We can get someone else to do it." I told him. There were a whole shit ton of people around who would do it.

"Nah, I got it." He turned to Jasper, "you want me to give her just half the bag, Major?" There was a respect in his voice I never heard him use before with anyone. I noticed most everyone called Jasper Major. There was a respect in everyone's demeanor when they addressed him or talked about him. My chest filled with pride at Jasper being mine.

Jasper gave me a shot of curiosity, but I didn't want to discuss it here I gave him a minute shake of my head and he addressed Nevell, "Yeah, that should do, man, thank you. If she doesn't come around we'll go from there."

"No trouble. Sounds good." Nevell told him.

Nevell walked over to Alice as Jasper joined me making our way across the room. We watched as he tipped her head back and took a look at her. He shook his head at Alice's predicament.

"Bloody hell, hey, Sarah, come help me a sec, will ya?" Sarah was in the room in a flash. She gave Jasper and I a quick smile and went to help hold Alice's head while Nevell poured the cold animal blood in her mouth. Blood dribbled out the sides as Sarah massaged her throat trying to get the blood to go down it. They repeated the slow process until half the bag was gone.

Now she looked like something out of a horror movie. Blood ran down her chin and sides of her mouth staining her designer clothes.

Wretched.

"I think that should do 'er." Nevell said closing the bag and stepping back.

Alice didn't move.

Sarah let go of her head and it flopped back on her chest.

No breathing.

No twitches.

Maybe she was dead? Could that happen?

I looked at Jasper and he shrugged.

"Don't ask me," he said.

"Well, shit." We all stared at her, waiting for something to happen.

Anything.

Nothing happened.

Huh.

"What about getting Edward in here to see if there's brain activity." Nevell piped up as he reached out and slapped her.

Still nothing.

"I was thinking about that. Where do you'll have 'em?" Jasper asked.

"Down south at the end of camp." I told him.

"We could show him the tape and see if he'd help us." he suggested.

"You could just show him, he can read your mind." Nevell said.

Jasper shook his head, "After what we tell him, or show him, he'll think we made it up, if it comes from Alice's mouth, it'll be more affective."

I turned opening my mouth to ask Sarah to get a hold of Cheese, but she beat me to the punch.

"Cheese says he's on it. There'll be a monitor there when we get there; he'll have a DVD of the session there waiting for you. And he says and I quote, 'Turn on your fucking COM, Izzy!" then she flinched.

I scrunched my brow.

"Oh, I was supposed to tell you to turn on the COM, not the other part." She grimaced.

We all laughed at the abashed expression on Sarah's face.

I took one more look at the energetic and lively vampire on the wall as we all headed out. The guard outside nodded to us snickering.

As we walked I couldn't help but feel relief. Walking away from Alice was all I wanted to do. I didn't want to go back in there. It was as if seeing how pathetic she was, trapped on the wall with no means of ever escaping, did something to me. I held hate for her, sure. She'd orchestrated so many deaths over her long life, some directly affecting me. She'd tried to kill me. She held my mate prisoner. But now, seeing her incapacitated, I couldn't help feeling free of her. Jasper was safe here. He wasn't in her clutches anymore. Beyond that… I was having a hard time caring about the rest.

I knew it would benefit to know her sire, Carlisle's sire, and if they knew what and when these games, or tournaments were we kept hearing about. That was the most important thing. Reliving and going through everyone else's grief about what happened in the past was becoming monotonous. I just didn't want to walk down memory lane with everyone. Did it really matter? Besides Jasper's feelings on the matter, I couldn't get up enough gumption to give a shit about anyone else.

I felt like I was being the biggest bitch. Jasper was safe and I just couldn't give a fuck about anyone else at this point. I had better things to do. People we needed to talk to and find real answers from were out there, not in here. There were people dying out there and we were in here playing games with these fuckheads.

All the build up of anxiety and drama over the last years of trying to get Jasper here, drained from me in that room. The weight of not having him next to me, not having what was mine, was more of a burden and heaviness than I realized. The three of us being in the room at the same time, I finally realized it was over. That part anyway. He was here, he was mine. She couldn't take him from me again. She didn't have any power left to control him, to control me.

The release also came with a sense of just wanting to put it in the past. I didn't want to walk back into the room with her. I wanted to see her die and let it go, finally putting it completely to rest.

I sighed. I just wanted to take Jasper to a quiet nitch somewhere and have my dirty way with him. Can anyone fault me that?

Jasper raised an eyebrow at me and I just shook my head. I didn't want him to know what cold-hearted thoughts were running in my head. I knew this was closure for him and the others. I needed to suck it up. Things were progressing with the Tech team; we would stumble on something sooner or later. Me hovering over them and getting in the way wouldn't help that. I would be more useful here, next to my mate. Let him go through this process.

Getting down to Edward's unit we were met with a young vampire woman holding what we needed. I thanked her and she slipped into the observation room with Sarah.

I looked at Jasper and Nevell and took a deep breath, putting my hand on the sensor we walked into the room.

Edward's eyes were open, looking expectant, as we entered. I'm sure he picked up Jasper's thoughts.

"Tone down the fucking lust." Jasper growled as his hands clenched, giving Edward a death glare.

Edward looked ashamed and turned his eyes from my body seeming to do as ordered because Jasper began to relax a bit.

"I thought you weren't going to come back," he bit out quietly. He looked miserable. I felt a little bad actually. Knowing now what I knew. I still didn't like his choices he'd made, and I still didn't trust him, but I did feel some compassion now that wasn't there before. There were also still a lot of questions unanswered.

His choices, if true, when he was 'sowing his oats' were terrible, granted. But my past didn't give me any room to judge anyone. I was not without my own demons. We were vampires for fuck sake. What he was doing in those years wasn't any different from many vampires' activities. Bloodlust and sexual lust went hand in hand.

In good will as discussed before we got here, I untied him from the wall. I let my mind slip around the bindings and shackles setting him free.

The shock on his face was priceless.

"Don't get too excited, but I'm untying you for a bit." I told him.

He stumbled a little, catching his footing he stood still again, looking at the three of us warily. He kept giving sneaky glances to Nevell and Jasper, I would imagine reading their thoughts.

"Is this a trick?" he murmured. It sounded more a question for himself more than it did us.

"No, we have something to share with you, but at the moment we aren't here to hurt you. You should know that could change at any moment." Jasper warned him.

Edward stared at him for a moment and gave a shaky nod letting out a breath.

Nevell set up the monitor turning it on, he inserted the DVD and handed Jasper the remote.

I stood next to the door Nevell took up his corner and Jasper stood across from me.

"We want you to watch our little chat with Mary-Alice." Jasper said as he hit play.

Edward looked confused as he stiffened, but nodded again turning his attention to the screen as it booted up the video.

They all watched a motionless Alice with her head back on the wall before the ties on her head came un-done and Jasper entered the room.

I watched Edward.

I knew Jasper was keeping close tabs on his emotions although his attention was on the screen. Edwards's emotions on his face went from confusion to anger listening to Mary-Alice spin her tales.

When Jasper snipped the first finger, Edward flinched, but said nothing.

He watched with rapt attention as she spilled more information. When the conversation turned to him again, his face turned from anger to rage, his jaw twitching and his face was that of a man betrayed.

His eyes bulged as she bragged about setting him up. I think he whimpered at finding out Alice and Carlisle knew each other before he was created. His own father's betrayal hit deep.

I couldn't describe the look of utter horror as he found out his existence was pre-ordained. Anger, rage, disgust, and utter devastation flashed across his face. I can't imagine what it would feel like to know you're life was controlled to the extent Jasper and Edwards had been. They were set up from the moment Alice saw them in her head. They didn't stand a chance.

The tape ended right after Jasper hit Alice, knocking her out.

The room was silent. I stole a glance at Jasper. His hands were fisted as tight as Edward's were, his eyes squinting. Feeling the emotions coming off Edward fueled with his own…

I stepped over and grabbed Jasper arm sending him as much understanding and calmness as I could.

His eyes slid open and peered at me with gratitude, grabbing my hand to keep contact. He tried to smile, but only managed to grimace. He leaned down into my hair and took a big drag of my scent.

"Edward," I said gaining his attention. "Reel it in a bit." I said.

He glanced at Jasper muttered a 'sorry', and Jasper's body began to relax as Edward tried to control himself.

"As you witnessed, we're both in the same boat to some degree, I understand the emotions. I do." Jasper started talking into my hair and Edward snorted.

"What? That our lives are made from lies? That nothing is real? That the people we called family aren't family at all? That we were set up?" Edward scoffed nastily.

"Something like that, yes. I'm not saying we're brothers in arms, but we have a commonality here. We were both fucked over." Jasper told him

"What do you want me to do? Feel gratitude?" Edward asked scathingly.

"No, Edward, I want to give ya' a chance to help figure this shit out." Jasper replied.

That made Edward pause. He backed down off his high horse and studied Jasper for minute then turned to me. His eyes were full of… hope?

"What do you mean? Your giving me a chance to help?" he hesitantly, like we might take it back.

"Well, you saw the ending clip, when I lost my temper and hit her with the bat." Jasper answered him pulling himself up to look at Edward. "As you can attest it fucking hurts." Edward nodded and winced. "What you didn't see; between her not feeding in the last week, the trauma she's been through, the confinement she's in, and the emotional battle she went through on the tape you just witnessed, all contributed to her being knocked out when I hit her."

Edward stared at him unbelievingly. Then glanced at the blank monitor and back confused, "You mean you knocked her out, knocked her out? As in…"

"Yes, and she's still unconscious." Jasper stated.

"Oh, fuck." Edward breathed.

"We fed her some animal blood. But it didn't seem to help enough. She doesn't have any emotions, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have brain activity." I chipped in.

"Are you sure she's not dead?" He asked.

"The only way you can truly kill a vampire is to burn them to ash." I shrugged a shoulder.

"Yes, but…" he shook his head, "I've never heard of a vampire being _knocked out_."

"True. Nevertheless. We'd like to know if you would help. We'd like it if you came with us to see if you can pick anything up from her." Jasper offered.

Edward turned back to the blank monitor as he thought.

I knew he would help. He had nothing to lose. You could see in his eyes the years of pain and anger built up there. He'd known he was being manipulated and felt he was alone with no way out. Now the opportunity presented itself. His father's betrayal I can only imagine fueled that hatred and confusion. He would want answers.

"I'll help. But I have to ask first, what does this mean for me? After I tell you are you going to tie me back up in here?" Ah, Edward was going to negotiate, he wasn't so dumb.

"That depends on you, Edward." I answered him, "I don't trust you. You've lied and manipulated a share yourself. I'm not saying I don't understand what happened and why you made the choices you did, but you did do those things. It depends also on how much you're actually going to help us. If you read something off her mind we need to know and you don't tell us, and we find out? You're a dead man. As for coming back to this room? We'll see." I'd already made arrangements for a guard to follow him around if he did cooperate, a regular room waited for him down in the sentry quarters.

"I want to help. Even if I did pick up something from her and didn't tell you, what the hell good would it do? If I help, I want the chance to talk to Carlisle." He growled.

"Well, that will be a problem." We'd anticipated this.

"Why is that? Isn't he here?" He asked.

"Oh, yes, he's here. But we have plans for Carlisle. I'm not going to go into detail Edward, not right now." I sighed and rubbed my brow. "Let's just take it one step at a time. If everything turns out in the next few hours like we hope it will, I'll consider you getting your chance with Carlisle."

He thought about what I said and then nodded. "I'll have to live with that." Like he had a flippin choice. What a guy.

"I'm going to leave the restraints off for now. But I'm taking the bindings with me. You can't outrun me. Please behave." I told him.

He snorted, "I'm not going to run."

I didn't think he would, but a little reminder and acknowledgement never hurt anybody.

We left the room with Nevell and Edward leading, Jasper and I right behind them, the rest of the team trailing us.

We were silent all lost in our thoughts. I figured this could be the biggest mistake we make or the best one. We didn't have much to loose if it was a bust, but then Edward's existence would come into question. If he decided to negate on the deal, or he used the information somehow we'd have to kill him.

Halfway there Edward started asking Jasper about Alice's condition. Jasper let him know and I'm showed him the rest of the episode in his mind.

We got to her room and Edwards's guard from his previous quarters joined the guard posted outside. Alice's guard said he hadn't heard a peep.

We decided having Edward behind the glass, just in case she woke up, would be our best advantage. She wouldn't guard her thoughts quite so easily if she didn't know Edward was here. She thought he was dead after all.

Nevell told me Cheese wanted to talk to me. I turned on my COM link finally and checked in. Cheese was quick to remind me of the importance of having it on. He updated telling me they talked to Zafrina. She was getting information from the guards we left alive in the raid. They were actually giving names. Most we already knew. But if they gave that much maybe they would give more.

"_You should also know_," Cheese continued, "_3 ghouls are awake out of the bunker_."

Excitement thrilled through me.

"What's their condition?" I asked.

"_From reports everything seems normal. They've only been awake and out for an hour. It'll be awhile before they can communicate, they were being fed when I talked to Jeb._" I could hear the excitement in his voice. There was chatter in the background of equal excitement. "_He'll start interviewing them as soon as he can_."

"Keep me posted."

"_Keep your COM on_." He said dryly.

Not only did we save these ghouls, it had great potential of being the break we needed now rather than months from now. Them waking up so soon was too fantastic. If the ghouls could remember being changed and why… I felt high from the possibilities.

We talked briefly about what this could mean. The potential of this leading us to something more profound was right around the corner.

Sarah, Edward and I went into the observation room while Jasper went in with Alice alone. Nevell went to get more information from the Tech team and check on Carlisle and Esme.

I was going to stay with Edward, I wanted to keep on eye on him, as much as I wanted to be in the room with Jasper, I would be a distraction for Alice. She seemed to talk more if I wasn't in there. Well, not that she was given the chance to answer any questions before. Jasper's need to defend me when she got mouthy was counterproductive, not as I was complaining. I didn't blame him; I wanted to smack her too. All I got to do was brand her and shake her a little. Jasper got to knock her out. I snickered. No, I couldn't complain to loud.

We decided letting Edward hold and whisper into the COM directly would be better than putting it in his ear. He could be quieter and gave less chance to Alice hearing him. Sarah got him one and showed him how to use it.

Edward stiffened when he saw Alice. She looked pretty gruesome.

Jasper walked in and strode up to her lifting her by the chin, her face was still slack.

"She's not dead. She has brain activity." Edward murmured.

"Well, I guess _that's_ something." I said dryly.

"I can't…" he scrunched his face and stared at her. "It's just a swirl of… blankness, an occasional blurred picture here and there…" he snorted, "Almost as if she's dreaming."

Jasper let go of her head and stepped back, "Still no emotions. We're going to have to give her more blood."

"Alright, the guard can give it to her and Sarah can help again." Sarah got up to get blood and one of the guards.

As the door closed Edward turned to me. "Why can't Jasper give her the blood?"

"Mating-bond is too new for Jasper and I, one of us would kill her." I didn't go into detail. If he understood or not he didn't ask further.

Jasper stepped in front of the glass while they fed her. I went up behind him and leaned up against the glass where he rested. He turned and stared at me, I knew he couldn't see me, but he sure the fuck felt me. I sent him some humor, and he smiled. Fuck he was beautiful when his eyes lit up like that. He must of felt my spike of lust because he sent it back.

"No offense but I can feel that shit." Edward remarked dryly.

Both Jasper and I laughed.

I cleared the venom from my throat, "I'm not sorry, but we'll try to tone it down for you."

"I'm just…. It's just… not that I'm not happy for you guys, I am…it's," he stuttered.

"Too soon for you. Not the time or place for it, I know." I finished for him.

He tried to smile his gratitude, and grunted.

Jasper snickered and turned back around. This didn't help my state of mind in the least as I caught sight of his ass. He was in jeans again. Monstress and I weren't even paying attention to what was happening in the room. I saw Jasper's body shake with laughter as he turned once again to me, I looked up as he said "Darlin', not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but you're drivin' me crazy."

I chortled trying to sober up and pay attention. "Roger." I quipped.

I looked beyond Jasper to see them finishing up. Jasper once again turned back around. I tried not to look at his ass. I did. I swear.

Alice was even more of a mess now.

Bleck.

Edward joined me moving toward the glass. He was staring intently at Alice.

"She's picturing… I can't make it out…" he whispered

"Her emotions are coming back on line too." Jasper mumbled. "She's confused."

At least she was coming around now. Monstress snorted. She didn't feel the need for her to ever wake up. I couldn't say I could disagree, but I reminded her we did need answers. She flashed me a picture of our black panther pinning a deer down. The deer jerked, the panther snarled around its neck where his teeth were buried. The dear continued to struggle as he held it. Another shake of our panther's head and the deer lay still.

I snickered at her. "_Very appropriate_." I told her.

"_Nuuffftttt_" she sneezed. She was anticipating watching Major kill Alice. I wasn't apposed to the idea; I looked forward to it as well. "_All in due time_," I reminded her.

I saw Alice's head twitch.

"Wake up Alice. Hell aint finished with you yet." Jasper taunted her as he took a couple steps in her direction.

"Unngghhhh," she moaned. Her hearing Jasper's voice, Edward whispered, triggered her memories and she was trying to remember what happened.

Suddenly she was wide-awake drawing in a huge breath, her eyes flew open and she jerked back from where Jasper stood.

Jasper picked up the bat and patted his palm with it, "I think this was a little too affective, what do you say we stick with the iron?"

"…Fuck you." she snarled groggily, but her eyes were filled with fear. "What… happened?" She looked around the room "Where's your bi-"

"I knocked you the fuck out." Jasper was quick to cut her off, "You say another thing about my mate and I'll brand the bottom of your feet. Or I'll just knock you the fuck out again. Take your pick." Jasper hissed.

She scowled and said nothing.

"Her thoughts are scattered." Edward whispered.

"Why don't we start with you telling me how you know Carlisle." Jasper asked.

Edward told us when you ask someone a specific question, whether they verbalize it or not, it triggers the answer, and he could hopefully catch something.

"A hospital, or room with lab equipment… beakers, microscopes, needles, metal trays, medical supplies… that sort of thing. Lots people in lab coats…" Edward told us.

"I met him… the same time you did." She said petulantly.

"You already told me you knew him before, don't fuck with me, who introduced you?" Jasper's voice dripped with venom.

"Heidi…Volterra… took her to the hospital place he was working at." Edward whispered and I wanted to scream in joy. This was working.

"No one. Fuck you." as she laid her head back and closed her eyes.

"Isn't it true it was Heidi?" Jasper asked.

Her head flew up and she stared confusion and fear drawing her features up. "How…H… did you… No, no, no, no… fuck you, you're guessing!"

"No, we told you Isabella's been digging all kinds of shit up on you over the years when you thought she was dead. I want to hear it out of your mouth." He told her.

She was quiet.

"She's trying to figure out how you know. Trying to figure out how you would know Heidi's name… no one, not even Maria knows." Edward whispered.

"What, did you and Heidi do, huh? Why did she introduce you to him?" Jasper cocked his head at her. "What was he working on you thought important enough to recruit him? How does he play into your plan?"

"They promised him… blackmail…. she's in pain.. her mind is warp speed…" Edward relayed.

"What did you promise him? Or was it blackmail? Did you promise him his own place in your Line when you overthrew Eleazar?"

"Not Eleazar." Edward whispered.

"I didn't promise him shit." She spat.

"Blackmail. I… can't tell what." Edward whispered.

"What was the blackmail? Something to do with the labs?" Jasper bit out.

She pressed her lips in a hard line, her eyes narrowed at him.

"They told him the Volturi doesn't know he created dhampirs." Edward breathed and looked at me. "They think Huilen did. Volturi don't know."

"The fuck they don't," and then cringed. Fuck. Alice's heard my voice and whipped around to me. I hadn't spoke but a hush but she heard my harsh tone.

"FUCKING BITCH!" Her raspy voice echoed on the cave walls. Before I could get out the door, Jasper had the branding iron to her neck.

I rushed into the door of the unit and grabbed the Vaseline. Alice was screaming her head off again. Jasper still held the iron to her.

I backed off; the iron must not have been too hot; she wasn't in flames yet.

Her neck started to smoke slowly.

"You can do it now, Jasper, but we could still use some answers." I spoke quietly sending him understanding.

"Do we really?" his voice was ice, "Do we really fucking need her anymore?" Jasper hissed lowly. God he was making it hard not to encourage him as he said the words not long ago passed through my mind.

I thought about it as the smell of burning vampire flesh filled the air.

"We don't really, no. I suppose we could get it from somewhere else." I wasn't sure about that, but if Jasper wanted to smoke her now, I wasn't going to try to stop him. There was always Carlisle.

I stepped back and watched him struggle to decide. Little flames flicked against the venom.

He held the poker to her flesh as she screamed until her voice began to fade. Fuck he was going to do it. Damn it.

Then he jerked back taking the iron with him. I leapt forward and slapped the side of her neck with the salve, putting out the embers.

It was deep.

Fuck that had to hurt.

Her screams trailed off completely in gagging sobs and she was left panting and hissing.

I grabbed her chin bringing her face to look at me.

"Stop fucking with him. Stop fucking with us. Playtime is fucking over, do you fucking hear me you little fucking psycho. I am your worst motherfucking nightmare come to life. I don't believe the Volturi doesn't know. The whole dhampir world knows who the hell Carlisle is. Tell me the goddamn truth."

"Carlisle.. doesn… know …at, Voltu… thinks… Huil..en did it." her voice was going in and out, I barely made out the words..

Then she spit in my face.

I jammed her head back into the cave wall as shards flew around us; her head made a nice little crater. Jasper paced and growled behind me. "Hand me a knife cowboy."

I felt a knife slip in my hand. I held it up to her bicep. "Now, tell me why you're doing this. What are you doing in Eleazar's Line?"

"fuc-" She started.

"_A place to hide_." Edward got out as I I spoke to Alice cutting her off.

"Wrong answer," I sliced into her bicep right below her shoulder bone, severing the tendon. "Try again." I said as I thrust her head back banging it off the wall.

"_Something about games. Some kind of… preternatural… fuck… she's in lot of pain, I can barely make out her thoughts. She keeps flashing to an arena of some sorts with… some kind of … things… creatures…?_" Edward said in my ear.

"Tell me what you're planning with Heidi." I said again. My teeth were so clenched I briefly wondered if she could understand me.

"Why… why I… smell… Edward?" She rasped.

Jasper growled.

"Jasper told you we killed him earlier." I gritted out. "Now answer me. What is your part in the games?"

"_She knows it's fresh_." Edward said right as Alice answered me.

"…No… fresh." Oh shit. I'd been standing in that room with him. I'd brushed by him in my haste to get to Jasper. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I ignored her, "Tell me about the games," I demanded.

"You think.. I… going to tell… you fuc.. .any…your cr…azy , bitch." Instead of cutting her again I leaned back with the arm I held the knife in and rammed my elbow and forearm to the side of her healing head, while I held it still with the other.

Her body went slack.

I let go.

He head bounced to her chest.

OH, shit, not again.

She didn't move.

Didn't breathe.

"She's out." Edward said, and Jasper snarled.

Jasper grabbed me turning me to him, his face hard as stone; he'd never stopped pacing or snarling as I had held her to the wall. Her spitting in my face sent him into overdrive. He grabbed my face took his shirt off and wiped Alice's spit off me. He was adorable. He brought the shirt down and checked me out. I smiled at him and sent him some adoration.

He finally stopped and looked me in the eye. Major was peering out at us. He wrapped his arms around me. I sighed and put my forehead in his shoulder. He finally began to calm down. We both did. That was intense. We couldn't control ourselves around her long enough to get answers.

We left the room together to find Edward.

The door slid open to the mirror room, he stood with his back to the mirror.

"You didn't have to do that to her," Edward remarked without much weight behind it, but he was snippy.

Un-fucking-believable.

I didn't really care if he didn't mean it, he did say it and I was still ampted.

"Ok, wise ass, you get to go in there next. Think about it, Edward. I'm so not in the mood for some fucking lecture. Do you fucking hear me? She fucked with all of your lives. Fuck, she created your sorry ass. She tried to have me killed, TWICE. She got 3 shape shifters killed and god only knows how many other people and preternatural. If you wouldn't have been created those woman you fucked and killed would be alive." It was a low blow but I didn't care.

"Carlisle wouldn't be fucking sending humans over seas for torture. Rosalie would've died; instead she suffers a damn personality disorder no Harvard psychiatrist will ever be able to cure. My MATE wouldn't have been in a fucking vampire war and have to deal with the guilt and trauma that comes from that. Shall I fucking continue? Think about it you numb nut. Now, tell me what you got from her and don't leave a fucking thing out!" I raged.

He stared at me; Jasper came up behind me grabbing my shoulders and growl menacingly at him.

Edward huffed, but he started to answer. "Her thoughts were very protective of Heidi. As in unnaturally protective, loyal, she didn't think it, but I got the feeling from the nature of her thoughts Heidi either sired her, or has something to do with it. She was thinking about some kind of tournaments, it didn't make sense, some kind of preternatural games. Her thoughts were so scattered when you were holding her I couldn't get much, just snapshots of creatures I've never seen."

Jasper must have started thinking about it because Edward's eyes darted to him. I leaned back into Jasper as he showed Edward what he'd seen in South America.

"Where the fuck… when…" he trailed off as Jasper showed him more. His face was indescribable.

"Fuck." Edward hissed. He turned and stared at the still unconscious Alice.

"You need to know Edward. What we're doing to her right now is nothing compared to the centuries of lives she's destroyed. It's a double-edged sword really. Without her none of us would be here, which I wouldn't give up for the world," Jasper squeezed my shoulders agreeing with me. "She has fucked with all of us." I told him quietly.

"But at the same time, Isabella is right; there are literally thousands who have died because of her. She sets people up and plays games, and has for centuries. This won't stop until we stop her. It's imperative, man, we find out what's going on."

Edward blew out a breath. "All those… people in your head… Carlisle created those? I don't understand."

"He didn't, no." I corrected his assumption. "Someone did. He created dhampirs. He worked for the Volturi for only a decade or so. But in that time, he experimented on humans trying to create another species. He was successful and then up and disappeared showing up in Eleazar's lap." Speaking of which, "Did she happen to think about Eleazar at all?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. When you were asking her, she was feeling smug about holding something over Carlisle. The only thing I got about Eleazar was something about being a safe place to hide, nothing more. She was smug about Carlisle believing the Volturi would kill him if they knew it was him and not the guy Huilen, no one told the Volturi it was Carlisle."

"But the Volturi does know. Or do they?" Jasper said.

"Honestly, it's possible they don't, but highly unlikely. I think it's more they just told Carlisle that to hold it over his head. To blackmail him." I said.

"It could be, yes." Edward's jaw was clenched.

"This isn't the first time these games have come up." I said thinking out loud, "No offense to either of you, but we need to get information on what's going on."

"We need to start looking deeper." Jasper said quietly agreeing.

"On it." came Cheese's voice and all four of us jumped out of our skins. "Peter and Char just got here."

I sighed and rubbed my head.

"We should meet with them and show them the tape." I said.

Jasper dropped his head to my shoulder, "What do you want to do with the princess in there? She's in pretty bad shape."

"Shoot her." I quipped.

Jasper lifted his head and smiled as I turned to him. "Peter made bullets?"

I laughed. "Yes, and no they didn't work. Make him show you the permanent hole in his foot."

Jasper laughed.

"I think we leave her there. As is." I said. "She aint going anywhere. We can try to wake her later when we get a new game plan going. The blood we just gave her will seal up the hole in her arm enough so she doesn't leak too much venom."

"Is there…" Jasper asked and looked up at Edward. I sighed.

"Yeah, there's a Rec room on the second floor. We can go there and talk." I said. I couldn't believe how easy it was for me to read him. We just clicked in some ways.

(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

I led them out with Sarah in tow. The two guards now outside the rooms stayed put.

I led them through the underground city to the Rec room. Edward and Jasper looked around the room taking everything in. There were foosball tables, air hockey and the like, set up around with tables and chairs to the outside. There were even chessboards and other board games scattered here and there. This was a place to commune and socialize for everyone.

Sarah and I left the boys to their own devices as she went back to Mac's room and I headed to meet Peter and Char. I knew Edward and Jasper needed to talk. Clear the air between them. I knew Jasper held quite a bit of anger towards him.

I found Peter and Char coming out of their rooms in the tunnels. Char came and hugged me and I held her tight. I missed her the last couple of days. We needed to get out of here and go raise some havoc. Have some fun. I let go of her and by the look on her face she was feeling the same way. We needed some stress relief. We smiled at each other knowing it would have to wait, but the first chance we got… we were going to be raising hell.

Bringing them up to date, Peter ranted and whined at missing the show. He said he knew there was going to be something good. Charlotte just laughed at him. He demanded to see the tape and wanted to know how we did it.

After watching it and laughing his damn head off, he asked how I felt about Edward's involvement.

"I don't trust him." I said simply.

"Well, I get the feeling we're going to need him. I'm not sure for what, and we won't let our guard down around him, but he's going to be useful in the future." He said.

"As in your all knowing shit?" I asked.

"Yeah. We need to keep him on our side, fill 'em in on what's real and fact. We don't have to tell 'em all of it… but he'll be helpful when we find these tournaments." He said looking at the ceiling.

"If you're sure." I said skeptically.

"Yeah, unfortunately I am." I knew Peter's intuition or all knowing shit never led us astray. No matter how much I didn't like it, I'd go along with it.

Steffania came out of the Tech room as we started back. She'd just talked to Zafrina again exchanging information. They were checking names and tracking down whereabouts as we spoke. They hadn't named places yet, but with names we could hopefully track something down.

Jamie sent files for initial results on the survivors. It didn't look good. They'd been injected with a whole slew of different kinds of drugs. The list consisted of different forms ranging in animal DNA, hormones, tranquilizers, and steroids to name only a few. It was mind-boggling as always.

Everyone wants to be Dr. Frankenstein.

I distracted Peter long enough to find out the 3 shifters were delivered safely; they were still unconscious when they left La Push. He said Jacob or one of the others would be coming soon to collect Alice's ashes, whether she was dead or not. I didn't know how they thought they would do that when she was still alive, but whatever. Wolves, I tell ya.

(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)

We walked back into the room and Jasper and Edward were quietly talking. The tension earlier between the two seemed to have settled for the time being. Edward seemed to be coming out of the information haze he was thrown into. I could understand his hesitation to a degree. Although he'd been blackmailed, he seemed to have no clue as the true nature of the beast. Even if he knew Carlisle was shipping patients off he didn't seem to know it was to the Volturi. Humans had operations and shit overseas all the time. It wouldn't have seemed odd to him if he knew Carlisle helped with transportation.

I wasn't on the Edward wagon yet, or Carlisle's for that matter. There was some explaining to do. We were still missing pieces. More so than before it seemed.

We all sat down around a large round table and for the next couple hours they filled in Edward on the need-to-know. I gave little input. I didn't care what he knew and what he didn't. I just wanted him to help with Alice.

I was still reeling at the revelation Heidi was Alice's possible sire and her connection in the Volturi. We knew it was a woman. Or we suspected it. Having it confirmed was elating and brought forth questions from the back burner and created new ones.

Was Heidi going against the Volturi or was she a representative? I knew she was from Russia originally. She was changed by one the Volturi brothers, or so it was rumored.

She was a charisma goddess. They brought her into Volterra for the soul purpose of bringing the brothers and their royal guard 'dinner'. She possessed a certain charisma, which made people trust her and flock to her.

She was their Pied Piper.

When did she meet Carlisle? Did Alice tell her about him? When? Why did they need someone in Eleazar's Line for so long? Did it really take that much to infiltrate his line? And why. You would think if they wanted his line they would have just killed him. At the very least killed him before now.

Safe? What did that mean?

Edward was shocked about the Power 8. I wasn't so sure about that. He never read the Denali's minds? I was suspicious. I could tell Jasper was too. We kept glancing at each other when we found something Edward said didn't add up or was… Jasper shared the honesty coming from Edward, but I wasn't sold.

And what were these games, getting back to my musings, tuning out the chatter. We'd been hearing rumors for a bit now about these tournament and games. We'd get a handle on something and it would be over and moved on. They didn't stay in one place for long that's for sure. Were all of the Power 8 involved? How was it the mind reader didn't know? What was Carlisle's part? Was he sending potential gifted humans to labs to be turned into players to these things? Is that what all these experiments turned into? Players for a game? Some kind of Thunder Dome?

With the human world population building as it was, so were the preternatural numbers and species. Less places to hide I suppose. There were more shape shifters than anyone knew about. They'd hidden in the cracks of society for generations and built up numbers until they too were found out.

Ghouls knew how to make more ghouls. Hell vampires knew how to make ghouls.

Before vampires changed their mates now, they were creating children first.

Someone was out there creating more monsters with no names. No, not true. Giants. There was _one_ monster with a name. The knowledge of them and how to create them, I was sure, was spreading and they would be popping up all over. It wasn't the last we'd seen of them. God only knew the success they had with the other experiments we had yet to meet. We were always a day late and a dollar short on finding the real survivors.

As time went on, some answers I didn't care about anymore, and others were making a priority in my head. I put on the back burner my own questions about Monstress and Major. I just didn't have time or even room in my head to contemplate my own shit.

Right now I didn't even want to be here. I wanted to storm Carlisle, get what I could out of him and leave him in a ditch somewhere. I wanted to get the fuck out here and look for these places hidden around the world just out of reach. I wanted to shut them down.

Maybe we could make Carlisle help the victims. There's a thought.

I must have been sending out some gnarly vibes, Jasper reached over and grabbed my hand and squeezed. I turned my eyes to him in question.

"What do you think, darlin'" he asked.

" 'Bout what?" I said stupidly.

They were all looking at me as I came into focus on the circle of people in front of me. Oh, shit what did I miss?

"Where are you?" He asked gently.

"Thinking about these games. Why we can't seem to get a handle on them?" I let the frustrating leak from my voice. "They seem so sporadic and we only find out about them after they happen."

"When was the last one do you think?" Jasper asked.

"Beginning of the year. We hear of it at least once a year. It's only June, there might be another one. We've asked Zafrina, but she doesn't know anything, or she won't tell us, if anyone could, it would be her. But she tells us nothing. We don't know who's involved. We theorize the reason these labs are so easy to find, is because they're what's supplying the bigger picture. The ones we find are obscure, unorganized, and medieval. We think they're actually only the first stage." I shook my head. "From the rumors and what we've heard from some of the survivors we believe the successful experiments are taken to a more elaborate set up."

"We let a lab sit once for a bit to see where they would take them. For over a month we sat and watched. Nothing. We couldn't just sit back anymore when we saw them taking humans out to burn them. Pieces of humans and shape shifters. We raided the place." Charlotte said.

"The ghouls we found this time in South America is the biggest nest of normal creations. If they turn out to be normal at all." I amended. "It's our biggest break."

"What about all the data and the other Intel you get? Nothing? That's hard to believe, if they have data on all these experiments, why wouldn't they have information on where they take them? What they're doing with them?" Jasper asked frustrated. I wondered if he was feeding off my own frustration.

"Good question, it's not as if we haven't looked." I said, "Then there's Miss Shitty" I continued, "Did Alice see these games coming? Why did she blackmail, change and coerce all these people? I mean… was this her goal? Or was it something else? How far into the future did she see? What about Eleazar? I think she piggybacked Carlisle in; she and Heidi put him there for a purpose, but for what? Safety? From what? To hide? Why? From who? Is it because she and Heidi wanted to take over the Line, or is it something to do with the games even back then? You can't tell me they didn't have opportunity to kill him in all these years. So then what do the games have to do with Eleazar?" frustration colored my words.

"I didn't mean to accuse you of not doing everything possible, darlin'. I'm just trying to make sense of it." Jasper sent me remorse with his words.

I sighed, "I know. " And squeezed his hands, "I'm just frustrated, not because of you." Tension leaked out from me at his touch. I was getting worked up over all of this. Jasper and I needed some alone time the feel of him on my skin was such a comfort, I knew we needed a reconnect time.

"That would make sense actually about Carlisle. She wouldn't have been able to do it by herself infiltrate the line. He was the perfect pawn. With Carlisle and then Edward to back her story no one would be the wiser. But you're right, why are they there?" Char said.

"Ok, let's back up, let's go over what we know. Alice and Heidi confront Carlisle. They found him in a lab conveniently; blackmailed him and do whatever to get him to go to Eleazar's Line. Which means he continued experimenting after he left Volterra, he didn't join Eleazar's Line until the late 1700's, he left Volterra in 1693, that gives him a 100 years he could have continued his work before showing up again." I said.

"Alice disappeared off the grid after her fiasco in Central America and Mexico in the late 1700's, it's possible she got to him then, after the Volturi shut her down." Char finished the thought.

"Heidi being involved would be the reason Alice wasn't killed when the Volturi stepped in down in there." Peter said.

"Yes." Jasper, Char and I said.

"She could have gotten to him in Volterra right after he made his discovery." Nevell said.

"Alice was in Central America then," I said.

"But Heidi wasn't." Peter remarked. That's true.

"True. Alice could have gotten a message to her, and made Heidi go to Carlisle first." Charlotte said.

"Which means he coulda' been workin' for Heidi and Alice for a hundred years before he showed up at Eleazar's." Peter said, turning to Edward he asked. "Do you know what he was doin' all the years before Eleazar's? The 1700's?"

"No, just traveling from what I understand. Studying medicine. He has stories of traveling, but nothing that would lead anyone to believe he was doing it for someone else." Edward said. "Then again, he could have just left that part out," he added quietly and fisted his hands at the reminder he'd been lied to all this time.

Peter nodded, "So let's go with he was met later rather than earlier. It doesn't really matter anyway _when_, just the result."

"So, Alice and Heidi put Carlisle in Eleazar's Line to set up a reputation and base story, establish him there, maybe keep him safe for her use later. Alice disappears from the south leavin' Maria in charge in the late 1700's. She stays in contact, however, because she told Maria to change me in 1863. She has Carlisle change Edward in 1918. That leaves Esme, Rose and Emmett in question. Did she have them changed too?" Jasper puzzled.

"What if the stories behind Esme and Rose are true? Maybe Carlisle felt guilty and changed Rose for Edward and then Rose forced Carlisle to change Emmett. Esme is his mate that would be a natural thing to do. Or is there another reason why he changed Rose?" I asked.

"If he didn't change Rose for Edward, why would he change her?" Charlotte asked.

"What if he changed her for experimentation purposes. I just find it odd. I know how this is going to sound, but we've talked about it before… what if he was experimenting again trying to make another species." I asked them.

"You mean about doing the reverse, making a vampire out of female eggs." Nevell stated.

"Yes," Nevell was shaking his head at me knowing where I was going with this.

"We've talked about this. It's not possible. Carlisle would know that from his earlier work." Peter said.

"I know." I sighed.

"Don't put something there that's not, woman, it's complicated enough." Nevell said.

I nodded my head.

"Even if he had done it B," Edward told me gently, "I would've seen something or read from his thoughts what he was doing. Even if he did do it, it obviously didn't work. There was no one else around besides the three of us, I would have picked _something_ up." trying to mollify me.

It worked. I nodded my head. There would have been something Edward would have caught on to it, that's true. How could you hide a baby like that? I looked at Jasper and he gave a slight grin and shared Edwards's emotions, there was nothing but honesty in them. I grinned back in thanks. I sighed in relief. No matter how I felt about Rose, having something like that happen to you… would be devastating. Especially after the trauma of her change coming about in the first place.

"There's a huge chunks of time in between all of it. What was Alice up to?" Edward asked continuing the discussion.

"We don't know." Nevell said scowling. "We can't find anyone who saw her. Or won't admit to seeing her."

"She had Jasper changed in Texas in 1863 trained to fight and then ordered to train others. Did Maria ever specifically want you to change someone? Or did she change others?" I asked.

"Yes to both." He said solemnly.

"Alice was pulling strings then too, she started upping her game then. Did they tell you to change Peter?" I asked him and squeezed his hand. He looked so sad and angry all at once remembering his time there.

"No, Peter I changed myself. He was a few months old coming out of the newborn blood haze when Maria demanded I kill him actually. He was one of our best fighters and I refused. She said she would do it herself if she had to. I talked 'er out of it and told 'er to let him finish the year; he was too big a' asset by then and I was fond of him, he became my only friend in the fucked up life we lived. When the year was up she never said anythin' again about it. Three years passed and she never brought it up." Jasper said looking at the table.

"I bet ya' money," Peter chirped, "Alice saw a way to use me. She probably saw me stealin' ya and wanted Maria to kill me, then it turned around to benefit Alice instead, so they left me alive. I helped ya' get out a' the war, she found ya' soon after." Peter told him. "I wouldn't change the fact ya' change me man. I wouldn't give up this life even if it meant goin' back to being human. Quit projecting the guilt, you're killin' me." Peter snapped as he rubbed his chest. I growled lowly at Peter for talking to him that way.

Peter just raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Jasper squeezed my hand and murmured to me he was fine. I quieted but gave Peter the stink eye. Jasper's guilt disappeared with Peter's words. This mating bond was crazy.

"So, she shows up on Carlisle's doorstep-" Edward started again on the conversation.

"No she shows up and helps kill the 'Volturi Guards' sent to kill you. Then blackmails the fuck out of ya' so ya' keep your mouth shut." Peter told him.

"But the guards weren't from Volterra, well, they were, just supplied by Heidi not the brothers." I said.

"How is it that you don't bloody know any of this shit?" Nevell said looking at Edward.

He looked constipated as he thought about it. "I've caught bits and pieces over the years from Alice. I knew some of Jasper's story. I knew she saw long before she went to meet him. I knew she made up the story about the asylum. She never ventured off or gave any signs, Jasper wasn't her mate." I growled. "I didn't know about Carlisle. I've never once heard in his mind he knew Alice before she showed up. Alice found me and told me if I went back right away to Carlisle I would be too volatile, I needed to get a grip on myself first. I did, I changing my diet back before showing up and finding Alice and Jasper were already there."

What a fucking scammer.

"She wanted to talk to Carlisle before you got there and weaken your mind so you couldn't read their deeper thoughts all in one shot. It gave 'er enough time to warn Carlisle about your mind reading. Any shock he might have felt or recognition of her being there would have settled by the time you got there. You drinking blood diluted your abilities. Ok, but what about his experiments?" Nevell prompted.

Edward sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. "I knew about the dhampirs," he admitted. "I knew he was apart of the experiments with the Volturi, but I didn't know to what extent. It's something Carlisle isn't too proud of. He truly fears what the Volturi would do to him if they found out about his involvement. He's afraid he would be taken back, tortured or worse. He doesn't think about it too often. I had no idea what had come from those experiments."

"I'd say he shouldn't be proud." Nevell gritted.

Edward scrunched his brow "What do you mean?"

Nevell was all for telling him his story. At the end Edward looked horrified at what his sire was capable of.

"I didn't know all that, I swear!" Edward burst out. "Carlisle's thought about research from time to time, about what was done, but not to any extent! I've never caught thoughts about your mother, or you being born! Or what happened before that. EVER." Edward was defensive and angry.

"Hey, no one said you did." Charlotte consoled him.

"Carlisle fuc-… I didn't know any of this. Not that I could've done anything about it if I did. Alice was always a step ahead of everyone. There were countless times I wanted to talk to Carlisle about shit in his head, or about Alice, but Alice was always there. She would have known. She was a constant reminder…" He whined.

"There's times she's left over the last few years that ya' could have spoken up man." Jasper said.

"Yeah, she went on her fashion shows once a year…" Edward scrunched his brow but continued on the line of thought he was on. "She made sure I remembered what would happen to the family if I talked to anyone about any of it. The fear of the Volturi killing us all… I kept my mouth shut. I couldn't' do it. Do you know how fucked up I thought it all was? How many times I've tried to think of ways to get out from under her? Or just blurt out the truth? Then what? Run? Take everyone and run from the Volturi for the rest of our lives? I know Carlisle holds respect for them, but he's also shown me what they can do. He's scared of them! I didn't want that to happen to them!" Edward was standing by the end of his rant hands fisted in controlled rage.

Peter started laughing and we all looked at him appalled. He waved his hands up in front of himself. "So you really don't have a stick in your ass… all these years it's just been stress? Really? There's true." Peter snorted, "hope for you?"

Edward scowled, "It's not fucking funny! I thought my family would die! You don't understand how fucking hard it's been these years thinking, because of my actions, it would get us all killed!"

Peter shut up. "Sorry, man. Its just… finding out you're not the little goody-three-shoes we all thought… well… shit… you're just as fucked up as the rest of us, that's all." He defended.

"Yeah, why did ya' tell everyone your a virgin when ya' were really out…"Char trailed off letting the question hang.

"It was easier." He explained sitting back down. "I put those years behind me. No one asked questions if they didn't know. Then when I met Be- er.. B, I couldn't tell her for obvious reasons. It became the excuse I needed to thwart her advances."

Jasper growled at him. I squeezed his hand in mine, as Edward continued talking, looking down at his hands, which was smart. If he would have looked at me I think Jasper would have ripped his head off. He was coiled.

"She told me B was my mate, no matter what Alice was doing to me, she couldn't lie… I _thought_ she couldn't lie about that. I saw the visions in her head as they happened." He sighed. "But I didn't feel it. That pull. Don't get me wrong, B was the first person I couldn't hear. It was such a relief to be around and communicate with someone I didn't have to listen to. Then there was me being drawn to your blood. It made me believe Alice was right." He let out a huge breath.

"The only time I was with someone," his voice was small, "well, you all know, I would let my instincts take over, I never restrained them. So when I was around B, I was so afraid I would let my instincts take over if we were to be…" he trailed off as Jasper hissed and growled.

I climbed into his lap and held him to me. Monstress and I purred to him. We didn't need Major taking out Edward. Jasper wrapped his arms around me and pushed further into my breasts. Hearing Edward being in the position Jasper should have been in was hard to hear. For both of us. But I kept reminding myself; Alice would have killed me before they got to town if she had known, she would never allowed Jasper anywhere near Forks. The last 20 years felt like wasted time, but in retrospect they probably would have been worse. They might not have happened at all.

"Did Alice know Izzy was Jasper's mate before you guys came to town?" Charlotte asked.

"Not that I know of, no. Her visions were always around the two of… well… you know. She saw B even becoming a vampire but she was always with me, not…" he trailed off. He was at least trying to be respectful. You could hear the remorse in his voice. He must be feeling it as well or I suspected Jasper wouldn't be sitting.

"Did Carlisle really make Rose for you or was that something he lied about as well?" Nevell said getting back on track and trying to defuse the tension.

"As far as I know that's why. I've never heard anything different from him." Edward replied with relief in his voice at the change of subject.

"So that's why Carlisle put the fear of the Volturi in ya'll. This woulda' worked in Alice's favor, all the way around. I would imagine she saw from the beginnin' scarin' Carlisle would scare the rest of ya'. Ya'll didn't sneeze without thinkin' they'd come down on your heads. Then add your experience in… it all tied up in a nice lil' package." Peter said.

"That doesn't bloody answer any of the questions about what's going on now. What she has planned and how Carlisle plays into it. I think it's time for a chat with him." Nevell said turning to Edward, "Why did you pause about Alice going to the fashion shows? Do you know where she goes?" Nevell asked.

"Don't you guys know? As far as her thoughts go, that's where she says she goes, but when you guys said these things are supposedly held once a year and Alice disappears once to twice a year, I thought that was a bit odd. She took a trip in January." Edward answered.

"We can't really track her until after. If we put a tail on her she would know, she would catch a vision of it or we were afraid her vision would go black. Her receipts and credit cards reflect her going to fashion shows." Char said.

"We can look further into where the labs are and where these fashion shows appear. See what other functions were going on at the time. Extra activity and what not." Peter said.

"What should we do with Alice?" Char asked.

"Leave her the fuck like that, why wake her up? It's not like she's feeling any of it and she's more quiet like that." I spit.

Everyone agreed.

"I mean no offense to ya'll but maybe we could get 'er functional and work with Edward and someone else. It's aint doin' no good the two of ya workin' on her. Ya can't keep knockin' 'er out." Peter said tentatively waiting for an argument.

Jasper and I looked at each other and we slowly smiled. Neither one of us wanted to go back in there. Jasper turned to Peter, "Go for it. I think it would work better, if I never see that bitch again, it'll be too soon. Just leave the burning for us." I nodded my agreement.

The table all looked at us with surprise.

"What's the game plan for Carlisle, how should we play this?" I asked changing directions.

"We need to know from Carlisle where he sends the humans. We need to know if he picks 'em or if Alice picks 'em. We need to know if he knows why and where he sends them, and if he knows about these games or tournaments." Charlotte said.

"We send in Edward to talk to him." Peter said.

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked.

Peter tapped his head, "Gonna take o'er the world some day… with my Char." He leaned back putting his arm around her. She scowled but snuggled into him.

I looked at Edward. "Do you have a problem talking to Carlisle?"

"No, I want to know. I want to help were I can. I have some questions of my own." He said.

"We're going to be watchin' ya'. Don't think-" Peter started.

"I know, I know… look. I feel terrible about my part in this, I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am. This is something I want to do for myself, but it's something I want to do to prove I didn't have a part in it as well." He let a huge breath, "Honestly, I don't want to harm anyone, I didn't from the start, that's why Alice could get to me the way she did."

We all nodded. Time would tell.

I climbed off Jasper's lap as Mac came into the room.

"I'll get a room set up for Edward, Carlisle and Esme to talk. You're going to be in the room Emmett and Rosalie occupied in the sentry camp. I've linked cameras up and microphones, we can watch in the Tech room." Mac said.

"Your fast," I told him.

"If you would turn on your COM you would know this." He said sourly.

I snorted at him, "Yeah, but what fun would that be?"

"Is it possible I can hunt before hand?" Edward asked.

"I'll take you" Nevell said.

Jasper and I glanced at each other as they headed out the door. Though I thought Edward was being on the up and up, I wasn't about to let him out of our sight. Nevell could run fast, but he was dhampir and wouldn't be able to keep up for long. I glanced at Mac and he was thinking the same thing, he nodded at me. He'd send a couple people to trail them.

When they were out of range Mac indicated to turn off the COM's, I gave him the evil eye to which he ignored. What good was it to turn it on if he was going to make me turn it off?

"Steffania is looking into Alice's fashion front trying to see if there's more activity with the other Lines at the same time. Seeing what was going on in the countries she visited in correlation. Meantime, Zafrina called back. She called earlier I filled her in on questions were lookin at finding out. She called to tell me she got some more info from the ghoul guards."

"Good. There has to be something." Peter said rubbing his hands together. "Give it to us."

"Well, they gave Zafrina a place. An island off the coast of Africa. Cheese and Sarah are working on it right now. There's an island that looks promising. We're checking on shipments in and out and getting a track on accounts for the two people residing there. It's a large island with only one… uh… plantation on it. Huge ostentatious mansion. Although they're on a private island they're gated. They have a twenty foot high stone wall and security system all the way around it."

"How big is the island?"

"It's about ten miles long and only 7 miles wide. I'll get a terrain map set up."

"They have a stone wall all the way around it? Oy vey. The mansion is the only thing on it?" I asked.

"No, there's out buildings and what looks like huge stables, funny thing, there's no horses. I have satellite images, and no the wall encompasses the estate itself only."

"This is good, this is so good. We're going to Africa!" Peter shouted.

"It would appear so. If we find what we're looking for, this will take a few days. I've got a team putting together what we'll need, we're checking in with sources we have there, I'll have more in a few hours." He said with a huge grin.

Excitement circled us and made us giddy.

"How is it Alice seems to have no problem with animal blood and her visions like Edward and I do with our gifts?" Jasper asked out of the blue, my head spun with the direction change.

"We've talked about this before," I indicated Peter, Char and I, "We think her visions _are_ hindered. But theory is, when she goes to these places or vacations by herself, making excuses to get away from the family; she's drinking humans. If she did it right as she got to her destination, she could have her eyes back to gold by the time she returned to the family a couple weeks later."

He raised his brows, "You think she's been sippin' on the side?" He asked pissed.

"It's a theory. How fast did the human blood take for ya' to feel a change on your gift?" Peter asked.

Jasper thought about it for a minute. "I wouldn't have been able to control myself on the plane without it. The emotions were sharper around me, but I could handle it better… so right away. That makes sense then, she could take a human, check her little psycho head for deeper visions, then go back to animal blood. Jesus does this woman's crazy ever end?"

"I hope the fuck so, I'm ready to get off this ride." Peter scowled. "Figure out what we need and put our effort into finding these games."

"Well we have time to spare until Eddie gets back, we'll be unavailable until then." Jasper grabbed me, throwing me over his shoulder, swatting my ass; we took off to my room.

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**That got a little windy. Got a little crazy.**

**Had to be done. **

**I almost took out some of their conversation in the second half of this chapter, but there was too much info in it and clarification, so I left it. **

**Sorry if it dragged a little. Next chapter won't, I promise. Moving on; next chapter. We need some more action! I'm ready for it. How 'bout ya' all?**

**Alice is unconscious. So sad. She got her lil' ass knocked out! Hope you liked that part. I loved writing it.**

**Tell me what ya thought of their talk with Alice.**

**Looks like some Jasper & Izzy lovin' is comin'!**

**Thanks everyone and see you next chapter in a week or so.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks as always for the great reviews! **

_**I MADE it over 100! **_

**For this to be out only a month… that makes me super excited! *Claps hands and jumps up and down* just kidding, I'd break a hip.**

**I started writing this chapter and realized it was going to get too long. Really Long. I know you all like the long chapters, but … it was ridiculous! **

**Thought I'd leave this one on it's own, so it's a little shorter than you're all used to.**

**WARNING: The first half is sexy times… the rest is some not so sexy talk … so if you don't want to read the sexin' up, skip to the first page break. There's some info you'll want to read for the rest of the story. Some crazy circle talkin'!**

**SM OWNS TWILIGHT I OWN THIS ONE**

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~**An Afternoon Encounter With God and Not So Sexy Pillow Talk**~

_Previously;_

"_I hope the fuck so, I'm ready to get off this ride." Peter scowled. "Figure out what we need and put our effort into finding these games."_

"_Well we have time to spare until Eddie gets back, we'll be unavailable until then." Jasper grabbed me, throwing me over his shoulder, swatting my ass; we took off to my room._

~Izzy POV~

I tried to wiggle out of his grip, he only slapped my ass hard snarling and gripping me tighter. I tried to snarl at him but gave a squeaky hiss instead. Asshole. I almost giggled out loud as I watched his ass move. Putting my hand on his hip for balance, reaching down with the other, I ran my hand up the back of his thigh slipping my fingers between his legs grazing him.

He nearly dropped me.

"Behave." He hissed moving faster. I didn't relent.

"Darlin', you're gonna get it," his voice a husky threat. Good. I was looking forward to it.

Our body contact allowed me to know he was coiled with just as much lust as I was. I felt my own body tightening with the growing feral side of my nature. I didn't remove my hand, cupping his thigh and squeezing instead, letting my fingers wonder to graze him again. His snarling hisses of warning only provided fuel for my fire. I squeezed his thigh hard.

He suddenly threw me; I didn't even realize we were in my room. I landed on my bed only to flip myself up and onto my hands and knees facing him.

"You've been drivin' me crazy for hours," his voice a sultry and deep as he ripped off his shirt.

Watching him strip before me sent a new flood of arousal to my core. I bared my teeth growling.

"Oh, no Darlin', you're miiine, no fuckin' around," he reached down rubbing himself. Flashing to the movement, my eyes became glued to his thick restrained cock as pre-cum soaked through his jeans. "See what you do to me." He was suddenly naked before me. I panted through my teeth as I held myself back from attacking him, watching his cock twitch.

He wasn't in the mood to play, neither was I.

He was glorious, all his tattooed scars over his body enhancing the warrior persona, his cock thick and long straining for it's goal, dripping with need.

I purred, kneading the sheets with my fingers.

He stepped forward and I growled sitting up to shred my clothes. I knew I smelled of Alice, but it seemed to encourage me to rid the smell by covering it with our beast of a man in front of me.

He hissed as he took in my body walking to the end of the bed. My eyes roamed him. Broad chest and shoulders, lean 6-pack torso, strong thighs, tensed biceps, all muscled but not overly so. I felt like I was on fire. Hearing him growl low, I realized my hand was where he and I wanted him most. I watched as he slowly took his cock in his hand as I slipped my fingers further into my damp need.

"You want my cock, Isabella?" his voice so low and gravely I was suddenly dripping for him. I could feel the moisture slide to my thighs as I panted shamelessly. He stroked himself slowly for me showing me, taunting me with what I wanted.

I looked up to see him watching my fingers sliding through my arousal circling around my clit, his eyes barely open. His chest rising and falling, mouth grimacing, showing teeth as his nostrils flared taking my scent into him.

"Yes," I hissed, my lips curling back from my own teeth.

The air thick with our musk, turning us loose to our beasts, the untamed side of our natures roared to life.

There was no warning before he sprang at me.

We hit the back half of the bed and I felt it collapse to the floor as the legs gave way. Instead of letting us slide he kicked his feet out to hit the wall as he picked me up and impaled me. It happened so fast my head spun; once his thick cock was stretching me there was nothing but him.

He surrounded me.

Consumed me.

I arched my back gripping him as he slid balls deep into me.

I whimpered.

He hissed.

Leaning forward resting his head on my chest, he breathed sharply as we both acclimated to his girth in my tight walls.

"So tight… wet… so good…" he breathed. I wondered briefly if he was even talking to me. "Honeysuckle… wildflowers… spice… beautiful grnnnnnggggrrMIINnnnneeee" his claim deep from his chest propelling my desire.

I fisted his hair in both hands tipping his head back I claimed his mouth with my own. He moaned as he allowed his body to be reclined to the bed.

His tongue immediately met mine and I was in heaven. His dark leather and spice taste controlled me. I gripped his hair harder making him buck into me.

It was my turn to hiss.

Hands on my hips he rocked me against him forcing a moan from me as I felt every inch of him.

So deep.

Swiveling my hips with him brought my clit against the base of his cock sending new sensations up my body.

"MIInnnneEE." I told him around his tongue swiveling again. I lifted halfway up his shaft and slammed myself back down on him as I let him know I was taking not asking.

He snarled and he lifted me again repeating the motion, his feet on the wall giving him leverage to go deep. Our pace found rhythm as he met my thrusts. I was spiraling in the burning of his body in mine.

My mate.

His hands held firmly on my hips, holding me steady, as I impaled myself on him over and over.

Jasper slid his hands up my hips slowly, as we quickened our pace. Caressing, kneading my flesh as he went.

Thrusting.

Pounding.

His hands found my breasts; fingers finding my nipples, hard and erect, waiting for his touch. He pinched and pulled until I was growling nonsensically.

Slamming.

Driving.

Panting.

Heaving.

Slapping of skin on skin filled the cave walls and bounced back to us.

I found his mouth again as he pinched my rose buds. Hard. Sending a jolt of lightening ricocheting through me.

Ablaze.

I hissed into his mouth as he twisted, my hands tightened in his hair as he slipped in and out of me.

Faster.

Impossibly deeper.

Every fucking inch of him.

The friction too much.

I couldn't hold on anymore. Too much.

I was suddenly sliding off that precipice coming from the inside out. Overwhelming sensations rolling through me as I threw my head back yelling for him. A whirlpool of emotions and lust riding me, taking me higher. I clenched around him, milking him, demanding him, until he gave me what I wanted.

"FUUUCK!" He shot his hands to my hips holding me impaled on him as he shot his seed deep inside. I watched his face as I road the waves of ecstasy with him. Head thrown against the mattress, jaw clenched, tendons and veins stretching the skin of his neck, eyes clamped shut.

Fucking beautiful.

"MIIINNNNEEE" I roared.

He finally began to relax and released the hold on my sides little by little. I kissed his chest flicking my tongue along his scars, tasting him, feasting upon the banquet before me.

He brought us gently back to earth as he rocked his hard cock against my slippery walls. Soothing us, calming us. He reached up and pulled me to him.

We were both out of gasping.

Purring.

Laying my head in the crook of his neck as he wrapped his arms around me, I breathed in his scent. It was now a mix of both of us.

Complete intoxication.

I kissed gently to my mating scar gracing his neck.

He moaned quietly, flexing his arms around me.

I knew from Charlotte, the mate mark was always and forever more defined than the others. The scar would look fresh and raised even over time, its sensitivity would react to my venom and me. It wasn't sensitive in a painful 'I got bit by a vampire' way. No, it held a sensual sensitivity only mates could bring forth with their own venom. A connection formed during mating giving a direct line to your mate's lust and love.

I flicked my tongue to it and Jasper's hips bucked. His sharp intake of breath let me know it did indeed affect him. Although he just came, and came hard, he was still steel inside me. The wonders of being a vampire.

"Darlin'," He got out before I wrapped my lips around my mark and sucked, flicking my tongue to its ridges.

"Arrunnngghhhh, Fuuuckk" He hissed. His arms tightened on me, one now across the middle of my back and one across my ass holding us tightly connected.

He pushed up off the bed further angling his hips just so, creating sensations shooting up my spine, into my neck and spreading across my scalp. I broke out into goose bumps. I didn't even know that was possible for a vampire.

I was suddenly on my back with him still seated firmly; he didn't hesitate to thrust into me.

Punishing.

Once.

"Fuck," I arched and wrapped my legs around him, "you feel so fucking good."

"Tell me," he whispered his demand and he began to move in me.

Thrust.

Pull.

Thrust.

Pull.

Thrust.

"…So full… so thick." I hissed as his pace began to quicken. "So hard," Taking my knees he pulled, spreading them, pinning them open to the bed. "Fuck me!" He widened his knees, hovering over me, going ever deeper. His balls slapped against my ass transporting a new sensation of its own into my body.

His eyes were on fire as he watched his cock uniting our bodies, dominating me, holding me prisoner in his power. He leaned down and capturing my nipple in his mouth, grazing with his teeth forcefully, my body responded vaulting hard.

"Unnngghhhh." My body moaned for him. Wanted more. Needed.

"Tell me." Jasper hissed around my nipple, flicking his tongue on the engorged peak. I found out quickly, Jasper liked dirty talk. Fuck yes to that.

"… cock… so good… my pussy… my Jasper." I panted as he thrust harder, faster, bringing his arms under me to wrap his hands around my shoulders holding me to the bed. His eyes met mine burning with desire as our bodies molded to each other propelling us closer to the cliff.

I dug my fingers into his shoulders. Trying to hold onto reality.

He growled lowering his forehead to rest in my neck.

"You have… no idea… fuck… Isabella…" He moaned.

I hissed low and fast into his ear. "Fuuuck my pussy Jasper."

"Fuck, Come… come for me… Isabella!" he whispered agonizingly and tilted his head to do as I had done to him.

He covered his mark on my neck and sucked.

Hard.

It was instant. No slow burn.

It just was.

I shattered.

I screamed.

I clamped my teeth down trying to contain it but it was no use, it was as if something inside me wanted the fuck out. My mouth popped back open, my feral scream for him rushing forth. I felt my walls grip him as I spasmed, holding him. He wasn't thrusting anymore as my heels dug once again into his ass; he was tight to me holding his cock deep inside me as my body bowed off the bed my arms outstretched clenching to the sheets…

As I met god.

I felt his seed, once again, spill for me.

He didn't let go of his claim.

Venom tears leaked from my clenched eyes as the euphoria took me to a place like no other.

He pulled back and thrust hard. Once. Rocketing me higher.

The vortex swam through me around me holding me hostage.

I was on another planet.

I rode the roller coaster of bliss until I became the bliss.

Aphrodite is truly beautiful.

He let go of my neck with a pop of his mouth, and I heard him pant for air.

I tried to pull in breaths, "Oonnngghhhhhhhnnnnngggg," my tongue, stuck to the rough of my mouth. It finally released and I pulled in huge gulp of air.

Sensations swam my body.

I could feel every nerve ending in my body all at once.

He began working me down. Murmuring to me.

Purring.

Swiveling his hips slowly, barely moving, but the movement helped bring me to earth.

I panted and gasped for air, as I unrolled my eyes from the back of my head and slowly opened them.

His head still in my neck, yet no longer touching my mate mark.

When I gained coherency enough I reached up and lifted his head so I could see his eyes.

He was smug. Fucker. I couldn't complain. Not after that. Never after that. His shit ass-eating grin brought mirth and merriment to his eyes. He is so mine.

I thrust up with my hips catching him off guard.

"Isabella, I don't know if I can come again right now, let me come down." He whispered.

"You're still hard." I told him breathily.

"I'll always be hard when I'm seated inside you." he whispered, his eyes full of…

I knew what that was.

I smiled at him slowly watching the emotion sweep out of him into me.

I showed him my own as I began to move.

It was quick to become fast and hard, he followed my lead and moving with me.

"Tell me" I commanded.

"Tight… so wet…fuck…" His voice hoarse, low, holding no hesitation.

Faster.

Harder.

"Tell me what my pussy feels like." I growled at him as I watched his face crease in pleasure.

He moaned, "So good… slick… your smell… consuming… drowning." He rasped as he met my pace.

Quicker.

Faster.

I shot quickly forward pulling his head to me, latching to my claim, sucking hard.

Instant.

He screamed.

He came.

So hard.

I used my teeth to scrape across the sensitive skin.

He screamed louder.

I did that.

Slamming me, pinning me to the bed with his hips he bowed back and I went with him. I moaned as he cried my name savagely.

I didn't let go.

He roared as I felt his seed filling and overflowing me.

I felt the muscles in his neck straining as he joined the world only lover's do.

He whimpered with emotion and euphoria.

I unhinged my jaw and licked my scar. His taste made my eyes roll into the back of my head. Sweet, sweet nectar.

I came with him knowing I did that to him. My body tensing… bowing.

Euphoria overtook me and I finally let go of his head with a growl.

We slid down the bed as Jaspers legs gave out. We panted, his body collapsing. I held him to me as our deep contented purrs filled the air. Our bodies jelly.

I half chuckled closing my eyes as my body went completely slack.

We lay there… unmoving.

"What's so funny." He panted into my neck.

"Your not hard anymore." I teased.

He chuckled with me realizing it was true.

Drawing his head up I opened my eyes to find him looking at me in wonder. My face I'm sure showed my own awe.

Smiling like fools. I reached up and moved a dirty blond curl from his face, tucking it behind his ear.

"Isabella…" He chanted, his voice reverent.

"OOUUUuuurrssssss" I whispered.

My smile grew as he leaned forward to lightly kiss my lips. The kiss didn't deepen too much. We nibbled and teased, as lovers completely sated.

Finally he slipped out of me, loosing the connection was too much and he placed his body once more in the cradle of my thighs. Sticky. Messy. The connection of him filling me was no longer there, but the pressure of his body was just as reassuring.

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He snickered and his eyes grew mischievous, we were airborne landing on the end of the bed, hard enough it broke under us.

I laughed shaking my head, "I suppose that's for the best."

"Yes, this way we don't have to fix it, just leave it on the floor."

I nodded. I was sure it wouldn't be the only time this bed would see our activities.

Jasper rolled us onto our sides as we wrapped ourselves around each other. Holding me with his arms he threw his leg around my hips and drew me to him.

I breathed deep taking in our scents. His scent laced with mine like it should be.

We were quiet for a while, lost in our own thoughts.

I never dreamed it could be like this.

I traced his scars littering his body, wondering how I could ever manage to come out of our bubble.

Jasper's quiet voice pierced the air, "What happened when you were changed. I know I've heard part of it, but tell me what it was like."

So I told him.

I told him the last day I remembered being human. It had been two and half years since Victoria's attack. The middle of November. We were all going stir crazy, the other women and I, being stuck in La Push. I'd been feeling anxious and restless. We decided some girl time was in order and we snuck away to Seattle. Leah, Emily and I went shopping in the little stores in Pikes market, eating laughing.

Then I was burning.

Later I was told we all wondered into a bookstore. Emily and Leah thought nothing of it. They never smelled anything out of the ordinary. Next they knew they were searching frantically for me. My smell disappeared on the street outside, evidently getting into a car. Never once did they smell vampire.

Only years later after discovering other species existed did we conclude it was possible and most likely I was taken by ghouls. Most of the tribe had gone to Seattle and searched tirelessly for me. None of them ever smelled vampire.

It was six months later I made a phone call to my Dad.

His relief was astounding. All he'd wanted for me was to be safe. His knowing what the supernatural world was, he'd hoped, much to the tribe's chagrin, I'd been taken by a vampire, as long as I was safe and alive, he'd take it.

Jasper listened and only interrupted a couple times to ask questions here and there.

"What about your mom?" He asked quietly.

"She'd died of cancer about 8 months before I was changed."

"I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "It's ok. I'm ok."

"So you don't remember being taken or around two weeks before waking up?" he said changing the subject and I gave him a grateful smile.

"No. I don't know if Monstress knows and keeps my memories from me, or my human mind couldn't retain them, or if there was trauma to my human body that hindered it. It could be a dozen things." I wish I knew. Not knowing was bothersome, it could be anybody if you thought about it. That was scary. Did my sire even know I was alive, or did they leave me for dead not knowing I was changing? What happened? Who was it?

Jaspers hold on me tightened as he kissed my top of my head.

"I have a feeling someday I'll find out… and it'll be to late." I breathed.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I mean it could be anyone, what if it were the Volturi, or someone like that? I figure whoever it was didn't realize I was going to change. Or… something else happened. Why did they leave me there? If ghouls took me why am I not a ghoul? To have ghouls working for you, you have to be in the know of a lot more than just a nomad vampire. It wasn't a random event. So if it was someone like that… why did they leave me to change alone? I have a feeling they thought I was dead. There was no one there when I woke up. I just fear someday I'll run into my creator and I won't even know. They don't have a hold on me since they abandoned me, but they could make a huge stink about it, or they could kill me before I registered what was happening. You can't abandon a new vampire. It's against the rules. Did they do it on purpose or not know? How did they pick me out of everyone in Seattle?" I rambled in circles.

"Hey, hey." He shushed me and kissed my forehead again. "Do you think it's possible they do know and left you like that for some other purpose?"

"What purpose would it be?"

"Well, there were several people in the know you existed, thinking you were Edward's… mate," he bit out, "what if someone didn't believe you to be dead and came to change you figuring the Cullen's would get into trouble for you being abandoned and left knowing about vampires? What if it was to get someone in trouble…" he trailed off.

I thought about it. "That's possible, but it would have to be someone really close. Who else knew who I was? As far as I know besides all of you, only the Denali's knew I even existed."

"Does anyone know now, you exist? In the vampire world I mean? All the traveling you guys have done someone was bound to see you, or ask who you are." He asked.

"Lots of vampires know me now, but no one knows me by Bella, or where I came from besides Peter, Charlotte and Nevell. Who would recognize me other than the Cullens? The ones who would are dead. Laurent, James and Victoria are the only vampires I met besides whomever changed me, and you guys. I didn't even meet the Denali's face to face."

"True. So you think someone found out about you? Came to kill you? But why?"

"That's the million dollar question." I sighed.

"Alice could have told someone."

I thought about that… crap… so true.

"She thought I was dead though." I finally said.

"Yeah, you're right."

"What do you think we should really do about Alice?" I asked turning my head to face him.

He snorted staring at the ceiling. "Honestly, I want to light her up. That's not what your asking though is it?"

"No. Like Peter said, I want off this ride. It feels like I've been on it too long. We can resolve it, get it out of the way and focus fully on the rest. Focus on cleaning up the mess on our laps now. I don't want to take away from you getting closure. I hate her. I do. I want her dead. But killing her comes with a whole slew of more shit."

"I can relate, Darlin'. I want to turn her into ash right now." he snarled, "I can't change the past, she doesn't have a hold on my future. I have you here, now. That's all I need." He said rolling on top of me. "She can't take you away from me anymore. Your miiinnneee," he growled reaching down to suck my nipple and part of my breast into his mouth. I panted a quick harsh breath and he let go to look at me, "nothing can change that. I want to end it." his eyes fierce.

I nodded, "I know what you mean." I was a little breathless. "Ok… so… we're leaving in a couple of days, possibly, do we leave her alive while we're gone?"

"Leaving her alive is not an option." He hissed.

"Agreed. But … haven't you considered what it will mean? Do we kill her now or wait to put her before Eleazar and the others."

He was quiet a minute looking at me questioningly.

"Killing another Line member with as much power as she has, is forbidden without a Council trial. She's her own line, not ours. If we kill her outright we bring Eleazar, possibly the Volturi and Maria down on us." I told him.

"Council Trial?"

"The affected parties hold a shindig, like a court of sorts. Both sides have a right to voice their reasons and facts of events, and then everyone argues over who dies and who lives. Sometimes all the Powers' are conjured for it. That hasn't happened in several hundred years. This however would bring Zafrina, Eleazar and the Volturi together."

"And if we kill her now? Without everyone else's involvement?" he asked.

"Someone would find out. Eventually. She's too involved with these labs, games not to mention Carlisle too would be missed. Not telling everyone why we killed her either right after or before will get us killed. We can't just make her disappear. Even if we made Alice Brandon go away, there's Mary-Alice we need to account for."

"Because of her involvement with the tournaments… and Maria and the Volturi also." he said thinking it through.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Whether they suspect we have her or she's dead by our hand, they come after us either way. If they want her back, we're just going to let her out in the open? Let her go? Give her back? Take that chance? Not fucking likely," his face morphing into a feral threat.

"There's a lot of people on the line, not just us," I told him. I didn't disagree, there's just a bigger picture here.

"Tell me who all it affects." Curiosity more than demand shaded his words.

"They aren't part of the Power 8, but initially; Nevell holds the dhampir rule, Volturi can't touch him, or his, without a war." I clicked off on my fingers. "Benjamin holds the ghoul rule. They can't touch the ghouls without the same. Actually Nevell and Ben are close allies, if one went to war the other would join. Especially if the Volturi or Vladimir are involved. They have around thousand put together. Them being associated with us, puts them in harms way.

"Then there's the four of us. Char and Peter have been pronounced dead. That leaves them _technically_ out blowing in the wind. Peter and Char have quite the following now, vampires once nomads, turning to them for protection, if any of those 3 Lines went to war, we would all be involved to help the other. Eleazar and his Line and Zafrina and her Line. You kill Alice, making you the head of her Line-"

"Whoa, what?" he interrupted, his eyebrows shot into his forehead.

"Haven't you thought about it? Think about it, you kill Alice and you hold Central America and Mexico." I knew he hadn't thought it out like this.

His eyes bugged.

"What about Heidi?" he asked slowly.

"What about her? She's never publicly acknowledged Alice as hers or having her own line. It's possible for her to do that of course. Jane and Alec have their own smaller lines, but they own them in the region of their masters. No one owns a region outside his or her own Power 8's control. Maria is considered an unofficial Power 9. The only reason Maria isn't is because of Alice and Heidi. That and the obvious fact she's fucking off her rocker. The other Powers' wouldn't give Maria the time of day if she asked. You have to sanction all the Power 8's to make it even plausible. She's never done it. She's truly not her own Line."

"How is it no one knows Alice?" He asked.

"She disappeared. No one really knew what she looked like except the Volturi. We don't know how she represents herself when she goes to these tournaments; it's an interesting question. She has secretly placed herself right smack dab in the middle of Eleazar and Zafrina's Lines, without either one knowing she's still a part of the Volturi or who she really is."

"The Volturi went down on them before. Givin' Mary-Alice a slap on the wrist, why didn't Eleazar and Zafrina jump in then?" he asked.

"They let the Volturi take care of it. Technically since Maria is the Southern Mistress, she's a descendant of sorts of the Brothers, it was their responsibility. Alice let Maria take her title. The title exchange was on the down low, no one knows that except the Volturi. Thinking Maria was severed from the Volturi eons ago, the rest of the world left her alone. But we have proof of Alice's true identity and that she's still pulling the strings."

"So Alice technically is the power there, when Eleazar finds out who she is, he'll go after the Volturi and Maria. So will Zafrina." He deduced.

"Yes, we haven't told Zafrina yet Mary-Alice is connected to Heidi. She suspects there is someone in the Volturi, but not who. As far as I know we haven't updated her on Alice's slip."

"Why do we have to tell anyone? Why can't we just kill 'er? … Because Heidi will come after us." he answered for me.

"Yes, which brings us back around to you, if we kill Alice then you own Maria's derelict ass."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't want to power over Central America. No! Besides it would go back to Heidi, not me." Jasper exclaimed.

"Well, sorta of. But Heidi can't publicly claim it. Which means if you kill Mary-Alice… then you would be revered as the Line head severing Heidi out."

"What if I took over the Line kill Maria and then give it to someone else?"

"Well, that would work as well I suppose. Or you could kill her take over and make it right."

"What would you do?"

"I have no idea, it's not my place to decide. I would support you in whatever you want to do." I shrugged a shoulder, "Peter's told me what it's like down there… the war zone it still appears to be. It's not like it was when you were there because Maria has more area and more control… but no one likes her, there are many who rebel against her. It's not a fight I would particularly want to go into. But if it's something you want to do, we will. It wouldn't hurt… we could take out Maria and clear up that whole area… for it to be truly affective you'd have to declare yourself as a Line head. Either that or Eleazar and Zafrina can fight over it."

"I don't want to…" Jasper collapsed back onto the broken bed. "What if we get Peter and Char to do it?"

"Well, that's an option. We'd have to talk to them about it. I'm not sure if they would want to anymore than you do. Look, we don't have to decide anything right now on that front. We just have to decide when to get rid of Alice."

"How long before you think anyone will find 'er missin'?"

"I think they'll find Carlisle and Esme missing before Alice. They'll find you all missing. We took you after Carlisle called Eleazar. Last time you moved it was another couple weeks before contact was made with any other vampires again. That doesn't mean it won't happen. Esme's presence on her project in Virginia would've been missed. We sent an e-mail to them under her name telling them due to the move she won't be able to contact anyone for a bit I think we have some time. Unless Maria or Heidi tries to get a hold of Mary-Alice out of the blue. She stays in contact with the Vulturi and Maria on a regular basis, but it's not uncommon to go a couple months with no contact."

"How'd I miss that?" he asked. I assumed referring to Alice's contacts.

"Well, since you guys aren't together I 'magine it comes easier than it used to. She hunts alone most often."

"True."

"So…"

"I think either way we start a war. Havin' 'er dead saves us some deeper trouble in the end with leavin' 'er alive for the chance someone else to decide she lives… and saves us the angst."

"I agree."

"I think having Edward go in while someone else talks to her will be beneficial before hand."

"Agreed."

"Then there's Carlisle and Esme."

Oi.

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**Wow…**

'**Round and 'round in circles we go.**

**Hope you liked the lemon… leave some love, tell me if I did it right or failed miserably. lol **

**See ya'll next week! Don't miss the next one! Carlisle and Edward have some words... and Esme... well you'll just have to read it!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N **

**Wow. What a week! **

**A huge thanks to my Beta, Bripearl, she did an awesome job with this chapter. She helped me more than she knows. I wanted to pull hair out, but I aint bald yet… so Thank you!**

**Thanks to all your fantastic reviews…. You guys never fail to surprise me…your words or overwhelming. I just… I don't know what all to say. You all ROCK! **

**Well… are you ready for this? **

**SM OWNS TWILIGHT~ I OWN THIS ONE!**

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_Previously;_

"_I think either way we start a war. Havin' 'er dead saves us some deeper trouble in the end with leavin' 'er alive for the chance someone else to decide she lives… and saves us the angst."_

"_I agree."_

"_I think having Edward go in while someone else talks to her will be beneficial before hand."_

"_Agreed."_

"_Then there's Carlisle and Esme."_

_Oi._

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)

~ We Missed That? ~

~Izzy POV~

It was three a.m. when we all gathered in the Mac's place to watch the 'life' screen. Mac's place was half the size of the command room with twice as many electronics and gadgets. The back 20' wall was nothing but life size screens with various views of the fortress and the world. It reminded me of Star Trek, or NASA, the way everything was facing and assembled to face the enormous wall of living pictures.

Edward was being escorted to the sentry camp to meet with Dr. C. Jasper had taken Edward aside, before he left, speaking to him briefly. We all agreed having Edward drink human blood might be beneficial; the pros outweighed the cons at this point. Edward declined, although he said he might reconsider. He didn't want to compromise his confrontation by being distracted by the sudden influx of voices. Smart. Everyone's gift worked differently. The one common denominator however, was that whatever gift you had, would be heightened when you drank human blood. I could understand the hesitation, even though he couldn't read the ghouls' minds. Dhampirs were hit and miss, not wanting to test the change while concentrating on his sire, was for the best.

The immediate area they were meeting at was cleared of our people. They were now scattered far enough away to be there in a heartbeat, but still at a distance that gave the Cullens the sense of privacy.

We found our places in front of the monitors. The largest screen held 5 views from the 5 different angles from the cameras placed in the room and set up to watch Carlisle and Esme on the screens in front of us. They sat huddled together on one of the loveseats gracing the room Emmett and Rosalie once occupied.

Once Edward entered, Carlisle and Esme stood and immediately started asking questions, demanding answers. Where were they? Did Edward know what was going on? Where was everyone? Why were they taken? What was the meaning of this? Who were all these people?

Edward evaded most of their questions until there was a lull in the conversation enough for him to start asking his own. That's when things got more interesting.

You know the old adage about train wrecks? You just can't look away. That's what it felt like as their conversation progressed into morning. I just couldn't look away.

I could feel Monstress on the outskirts, paying attention, but not dominate. I could feel Jasper's tension, stretched thinly inside my own emotions. I was sure he was feeling my emotions on top of everyone else's.

We watched as Edward moved to sit opposite them in one of the plush chairs.

Carlisle finally sat down with Esme who was now sitting wringing her hands together on her lap.

"I need to ask you something, Carlisle." Edward's voice was quiet and strained with tension.

Carlisle nodded.

"How do you know Alice?"

Carlisle started at the question and answered on autopilot, "She and Jasper came to us-"

"No, when was the first time you met Alice?"

"I don't… what are you asking Edward?" Carlisle face twitched.

Edward sat still for a moment staring at Carlisle.

"Is that how you met her? Who's the blond you pictured? Heidi? Is that who introduced you?" He asked. You could see how tense Edward was, almost as if he were a tightly strung bow ready to snap.

"Carlisle!" Esme exclaimed. It wasn't an exclamation of 'What's goin on', it was more of a scolding tone. Strange.

They both ignored her, "Why are you asking me this? What does Alice have to do with this?" Carlisle asked.

"Everything. Now, please answer me. Who was the blond, when did first you first meet Alice and Heidi?"

"He doesn't-" Esme started and Carlisle shut her up with a hand on her knee.

"It's all right dear." He sighed. "I was afraid of this." Sounding resigned. "When Bella told us part of the family was trouble, I had a feeling where this was going." Esme scoffed at her mate.

"Answer the question." Edward gritted.

After a moment of silence Edward demanded, "Out loud."

Carlisle sighed again and spoke up as requested, "I knew it wouldn't last forever. Our bubble of safety. I warned her that she was too pre-occupied with Jasper to be paying attention and watching out for us at the same time. She's been so worried about Jasper's health."

Jasper shook his head and snorted as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"Carlisle!" Esme warned him under her breath. Odd… again. Huh.

He patted her leg in acknowledgement but continued talking, "I met Heidi first, in Volterra, when I was working in a lab there. I was recruited by the Volturi when they found out I was studying and doing medical research."

"Carlisle, please," Esme implored him.

"It's alright Esme, its just Edward. Once he knows, he'll understand. He could help us. He's our son Esme, it's time he knew." she looked doubtful as Carlisle turning to Edward.

"But Alice…"she trailed off but Carlisle shook his head at her once again turning Edward.

"I was working with another scientist Dr. Huilen. We combined our efforts on each other's projects. I worked on my research and assisted with Huilen's visions. He was radical and unpredictable, taking random men and woman off the street without concern for their health or well being mentally. Some were sick with the plague, but most were not. He didn't let the test subjects live long enough to find anything substantial either way."

"You know about dhampirs I gather?" Carlisle inquired, to which Edward nodded his head.

"It was hit and miss at first. Technology at the time was not as it is today. I was there around 10 years when I made the discovery. Eventually we found we were taking our samples too late. Once we began taking the sperm of the newest newborn males and implanting it immediately into a human female, we were quite successful. We created the first of a new race. Not all newborn sperm survives of course, and not all human females are able to carry to term, and Huilen's methods and madness worked against me. We had to take the sperm immediately at rising. We were able to successfully bring 7 to term by the time I left. We lost many more. It became clear Dr. Huilen's methods were something I could not condone any longer. He did not treat the females with the care they needed, and was stealing more and more humans off the streets to supply us. We fought and argued over many aspects of our methods.

That's when I met Heidi Volturi. A few months had passed by then and Huilen was becoming more and more unstable. Heidi told me of a woman who predicted the future and having concerns about Huilen, came to warn me. Through several long conversations she informed me this seer predicted Huilen would kill me if I stayed. I didn't believe her at first.

Huilen was becoming unpredictable and more brazen demanding we make as many dhampirs as we could. There was much pressure from the Volturi for results. He began taking too many chances, taking people off the streets with families and humans who had too many ties in the world; his selections were so random we couldn't work with most of them. I began to believe the warnings Heidi brought to me. She came back a week later to tell me I must leave immediately or it would be too late.

"I took my research and ran." Carlisle shook his head, "I felt there was no choice but to run. I fled to Sweden to continue by myself. I told no one where I was going."

"You just left. You murdered countless people, created a new species and you simply left. How did you meet Alice?" Edward's voice was low. His fingers were embedded in the fabric of the chair as he dug his nails into the material.

Glancing around the room quickly I realized we were all stone still. I tried to let go of the tension building in my body, to relax. Centering myself enough I tried to release my tension and provide Jasper something other than the negative emotions to feed from. It seemed to work somewhat as I saw his stature change infinitesimally.

Carlisle was still talking, "She and Heidi found me in Sweden while I was working in my own lab. I was very surprised to see them. It was nearly 100 years since I heard a word."

"You continued your experiments! You just left them and found somewhere else to continue your debauchery! You lied. To all of us." Edward shook his head at his sire. "Why? Why would you do that? Do you have any idea what you left behind? You left Huilen there with no regard for anyone's well being but your own!"

"It was for the best. If I would have stayed it could have potentially given the Volturi too much power. It's not something I am proud of, but I was backed into a corner. Heidi said if I left it would make Huilen leave as well. It was my best option," Carlisle defended; he seemed unfazed by Edward's overall anger. "We saved hundreds of lives."

It seemed he really believed that shit. Unreal!

Edward didn't reply. His breathing was heavy and he seemed to be trying to calm down.

The tension in Mac's place was stretched tight. I reached out, touching Jasper's arm. I asked him with my eyes, he seemed to understand. I suddenly felt a blanket of calm settle over us and I smiled at him gratefully. I glanced at Nevell, he was less tense now, he wasn't fighting Jasper's gift, but he still looked like he wanted to jump through the screen and strangle Carlisle.

"I couldn't tell you," Carlisle finally said. "The more people who knew, the more chance it was for everything we worked for to be exposed. Hundreds of years of hard work would be washed away. It couldn't be changed anyway. What good would it have done? What could you have done?"

"You abandoned them! You didn't think the other scientists knew how or would take over where you left off? You're not the man I thought you were! You're a fucking stranger! How could I not have known this!" Edward exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. "You abandoned them on the ramblings of a woman you never met! You've lied about your involvement with the Volturi all these years!"

"I took all my research with me. They could not continue." Carlisle defense was asinine. "You have to understand, she came with facts no one else knew! Staying would have been detrimental to everyone! I cut ties with the Volturi when I left and hid so they could not continue."

"And you think they just stopped? You left Huilen there!" Edward argued. "You left innocent people at his hands! You left the dhampirs with no protection against him! He knew how to further the discovery. At the very least he could have killed them all. Yes, he left. He left to continue somewhere else. No lives were truly saved. You didn't cut all ties because you still send the Volturi potential people. Jesus, I don't even know where the hell to start with this fuckery!"

"Heidi said he wouldn't continue for the Volturi." Carlisle's voice completely defensive now as he tried to excuse his behavior. "The discoveries would be taken care of after Huilen left. How do you know about my contact with the Volturi?" I saw Esme stiffen.

"Just like I know the rest of it. Why are you sending them people? Why after you broke ties with them would you work for them? You know what they are capable of. Does Eleazar know?"

"No, as far as I know, he knows nothing of this. I would like to keep it that way. He would look at it as a betrayal to him. He wouldn't understand our true goals. He's happy with who he is. When I came to him for help I told no one of my activities or true relationship with the three Brothers. Eleazar holds them accountable for many wrong doings over the thousands of years they've known each other. Alice said it would not be wise to tell him…."

Nevell snorted, "No shit."

"... The Volturi contacted me after I came to Eleazar's line and asked for help. I felt obligated and guilty, so I give my services to them. I am not actively participating in the experiments, just giving my expertise where it is needed. Alice said it was the best way to keep everything quiet and keep us safe. Agreeing to this keeps the Volturi from raising trouble by me being here in America. If it got out what I had done, we would all be in jeopardy."

"What you have done? Not actively participating? Are you…" Edward shook his head in disbelief. "You _should _be accountable! You send innocents to them to slaughter. Don't you wonder what they do with the people you send to them? How can you say you're not involved in all this? How can you let Alice lead you around by the collar? How could you let them convince you to leave in the first place and leave those babies behind?" Edward's voice was high pitched with incredulity.

Carlisle was getting agitated. "I don't let her lead me around. She has saved our family countless times. Because of her actions, she saved me in Volterra. She didn't have to do that. I didn't know until I came here and saw the evidence for myself that they continued after I left. I didn't know that they were creating more dhampirs. At the time, Heidi assured me the Volturi would come find me and kill me if I took the dhampirs with me. I couldn't help them. They were better there than with me. She said she would help take care of them.

It wasn't until Alice told me when we first met, that she has trouble seeing the half breeds…"

Nevell snarled at hearing Carlisle call him a half-breed.

"…She was unable to see them continuing because the dhampirs already born interfered with her sight. She assured me my concerns were unfounded when we met again. By my leaving I saved hundreds of lives, you need to understand that." Carlisle's was beseeching.

"Oh fucking Christ! You're delusional! You left them there defenseless! How could Heidi tell you they were going to be all right if Alice couldn't see them? It doesn't even make sense."

"Well, I didn't know that at the time. We did the best we could in the situation, please," Carlisle pleaded. "You have to understand-"

"It's unbelievable how you can sit there and defend her! There is no defense of what you've done! You lied to me. You lied to the family! You've betrayed all of us. Everything's been a fucking lie. Do you know how… do you know…?" Edward rambled seemed to be getting more and more agitated as he tried and failed to argue logic with Carlisle.

"We couldn't tell you." Carlisle said.

"Did Alice send you to find me?" Edward asked changing the subject.

"She told me, yes, you would be an important part of our lives-" Edward cut him off.

"Do you know that she's been blackmailing me?" Edward's words cut into the air sharply.

"It was for your benefit, you were out of control." Esme scoffed, answering for Carlisle, scolding Edward. "Look how well you are doing now. You stopped your monster from overtaking you by coming home. Changing your diet. You're so much better off," she praised. Was she insane?

Edward stood and began pacing; I was surprised he held himself together this long. "Better? Better? Are you serious? I'm a goddamn mess!" Edward yelled and Jasper and Peter snorted. "Do you have any fucking clue what I've gone through in the last hundred years of my existence? Trying to atone for my sins to be better in _your_ eyes? Trying to atone for what I'd done? How much of me I changed to be the 'good' son so the Volturi wouldn't send someone to kill _you_? So I could be the son _you_ wanted me to be? Only now to find out I was set up from the beginning? You were a part of it! All the while you and Alice were laughing behind my back!" Edward's veins were popping out all over his face as he shouted at them. His hands fisted at his sides, teeth bared. "You used me! You used all of us!"

"It wasn't like that-" Esme said petulantly.

"You've let Alice completely make all this shit up as we live in some make believe world while you play fucking 'Dr. Freeman' conducting lobotomies on innocent people. Sending vampires and humans to get torn apart and put back together with something… they give them drugs to accelerate growth… they… you condone all this bullshit!"

"Now Edward, you don't understand-" Esme piped up. Why did she seem so unfazed now?

"You're right, I don't understand, please explain, because I don't know either one of you. I can't believe your sticking up and condoning this Esme!" he snapped.

Carlisle got up and tried to console him and Edward shoved him away hard enough for Carlisle stumble back. Esme looked angrily at Carlisle as she came to stand by him.

"We couldn't tell you-," She hissed turning to Edward as she held Carlisle arm.

"Couldn't tell me what? That you're mate is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" Edward spoke harshly.

"Don't talk to your mother that way." Carlisle bit out in defense. But Edward wasn't paying attention to him. He was now staring at Esme, eyes squinting at her. Esme looked stubbornly back.

He seemed to finally realize what Carlisle said to him and turned back to him.

"Let's get it straight, _pops_." Edward sneered. "You're NOT my parents. From what you've done, you're no longer anything to me. You've betrayed the entire family. You let that bitch come into that house and blackmail me. Knowingly! Do you AARRRGGHHHH." Edward roared and then leaned into Carlisle's face. "What would possess you to do this? Did you ever wonder WHY Alice is doing this?"

"It wasn't like that-" Esme repeated.

"Tell me what it was like. Tell me what would possess someone to mess with other's lives the way he and Alice have." He yelled at Esme. "Do you know he sends humans to the Volturi? How can you defend him dissecting innocent humans while he tells his family not to drink from them?" he asked her.

Esme just looked sadly at him. Edward stared at her as his eyes widened. "What are you hiding? What is your part in this?" he snarled at her. "…. You're _gifted_? ….. What about Alice?" he bit out as Esme's face scrunched up.

"Son OF A BITCH!" Edward reeled back from both of them as if he'd been electrocuted. He ran both his hands through his hair and pulled it while he growled and paced again.

I missed something. What the hell? I heard Jasper snarl and was joined by others in the room.

"You two are priceless!" Edward laughed harshly as he blurred around the room. "What a team you make. They think you found out how to tell latent talents from the Volturi's research. Or maybe Alice was finding them like she found Jasper and I. You guys have one even better don't you?" his voice dripping sarcasm as he came to stand in front of them again. "Fucking Esme. Sweet little homemaker soccer mom. You have the natural ability to find them yourself. You two make me sick!"

I jerked stunned. Esme? What?

Our room was utterly quiet; we were all catching flies with our gaping mouths. It felt like a vacuum sucked every emotion out of the room.

Sure Esme helped at the hospital fundraisers, volunteered at the hospital itself…did her own designer business on the side…. but… did she actually meet the people Carlisle sent overseas? What did she have to do with any of it? Could she detect latent gifts?

Edward still ranted, "…Alice got you to change Esme as well. So let me get this straight. Are you even mates?" He didn't let them answer, "Esme finds these potential people sends them to her husband to come up with some mysterious disease or sends them on a mysterious cruise and Alice uses her mind tricks to see if they'd be best useful, you send these non-suspecting humans for 'treatments' they don't need, to Volterra so you can change them-"

"Well not to Volterra-" Carlisle spoke stupidly.

"You send them to the labs?" Edward screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know what they do to them there? Of course you do, you were a part of it! You fucking helped them! You damn hypocrite!"

Edward stood staring at Carlisle and Esme as we all were.

Holy baby Jesus on rye. I was too shocked to utter a word.

We stared at the train racing towards the cliff and could do nothing to stop it.

I finally looked at Jasper, his face held such a look of distaste and loathing, I was surprised Carlisle and Esme didn't keel over dead.

I glanced at Peter, he and Char both turned to look at me wide-eyed.

How'd we miss that?

I thought Nevell was going to go through the screen at any minute.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Edward." Esme scolded, and I turned my attention back to the wreck in front of us. "Your father-"

"You call him my father one more time and I'll-" Edward hissed at her.

"You'll what? Hit me? Strike a match?" she sneered. Damn, who knew Esme had it in her?

"Take. Your. Pick." Edward's voice was low and dark. For him to threaten Esme I knew he was done with the two of them.

"You wouldn't dare." She challenged at the same time Carlisle said, "Now Edward-"

"Wouldn't I?" he threatened, "You two have teamed up with a woman who has manipulated and wove her webs around all of us, not just us but around so many it's mind boggling. Instead of standing up to her or making it right, you _joined_ her. She made Jasper live in a vampires war for years! The devil created Maria! She tried to kill Bella! She blackmailed me! Tell me why!"

"We did it for you. For us." Esme lashed out.

"How can you even justify … what? How the fuck do you figure that?" He asked bewildered.

"This research could save us." Carlisle said quietly. "At the very least let us walk amongst society again in the sun."

"Research? Is that what you believe Carlisle? You're doing research? That's all we are to you is research? Test tube experiments? So you can what? Not fucking sparkle? Are you out of your mind?" he incredulously and stared Carlisle down. It was quiet and still for a minute as I was sure Edward read their thoughts. "You think you can change us back into humans? What the fuck! Being vampires isn't a disease!"

"If we could find… if we could contain our monsters…" Carlisle started by Edward wasn't finished.

"Why did you change me?" He glared at his sire. "So that's why you made me? Do I mean so little to you? All I am is a means to keep you safe. Alice is a genius isn't she? Having a mind reader in the family paid off didn't it? I could read Eleazar's mind to figure out if he was onto any of you. If he'd figured out who any of you were and what you were really doing, he would have killed you all. Lying to Eleazar about why you defected from Volterra. What about Rosalie and Emmett?"

He watched them and then threw his hands in the air.

"Oh, my god!" Edward's eyes were popping out of his as he breathed, "Oh, my god!" again.

What! Say it out loud Edward!

"You…you were trying to make her… you'd taken my… you… how dare… did you succeed?" his voice high pitched and begging.

Edward's posture relaxed a tiny bit, but he was obviously reeling even more than rest of us, "At least _that's_ something." He bit out harshly. "You put Rosalie through enough. You put all of us through enough. You violated us. You violated her again at her most vulnerable moment in life. You…" he choked, "If you would have succeeded-," he shook his head.

I had covered my mouth to keep from screaming. Monstress was front and center watching, digging her claws into my brain. She wanted blood. Now. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the implications. What it would take for something…. I just couldn't. I couldn't think about it right now. Jasper's arm snaked around me, I could feel his disbelief join with mine.

"It would have helped her." Esme said sternly. "Think about what kind of healing it would have held for her if she'd been able to have a child in this life."

"You don't understand. We did it to make you happy." Carlisle spoke at the same time over Esme.

I was reeling.

OH. MY. GODDESS.

No one was breathing in the room.

Carlisle experimented on them. My mind raced; He would have had to freeze Edward's sperm in the very beginning. Then what? Taken Rose's eggs as she changed? Before she changed? Then intravenously put them in a surrogate.

"Edward, you need to calm down. This is why Alice said to never tell you. You wouldn't understand. You don't think we have souls, but we do. If I could just find the key that made us this way, we could go back-" Carlisle begged for understanding.

"FUCK YOU! You didn't do this for me. You didn't even ask me what I would think about it! You violated me! You didn't do this for any of us! You did this because you think your father would shun you. You think he would disown you! He would kill you knowing you have a 'monster' in your head. If he had lived he would have chased you down and killed you. I've got news for you, he's fucking dead!" Edward was full on screaming. I wanted to scream. "Oh, and don't worry, I'll be lighting the match my fucking self with Rose!"

"Don't talk to me this way! You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know the leaps and bound we've-" Carlisle began to yell back at him.

"Oh, I think I do. I can see it all in your mind. I can read everything going through that twisted fucked up head of yours. All I had to do was ask the right fucking questions." Edward's voice calmed and he seemed to tip over the edge gloating now at Carlisle.

"Get out of my head!" Carlisle snarled.

"Little too late for that! You sired me, deal with it." Then he hauled off and hit Carlisle square in the face. Thunder boomed. Carlisle screeched grabbing his nose as he flew backward onto couch tipping over backward.

We ALL gasped and then cheered.

"How dare you!" Esme rushed to Carlisle, helping him up.

"No," Edward hissed, his cold and harsh voice holding no illusions. "How dare _you_, Esme."

Then Edward blurred out of the room.

I heard Mac already giving instructions to follow him. Nevell ran out of the room as well.

Esme and Carlisle stood there looking angrily at each other while Carlisle held his broken nose.

"Why did you think about it? Why didn't you listen to me!" Esme snapped. "Why did you tell him all that? Alice told you not to think about it! Now he knows! What do you think will happen when he tells them? What were you thinking? Too much obviously. We've been so careful over all these years, and in one conversation you ruin everything!"

"You didn't help, Esme! They won't believe him, anyway. They'll think he's making it up to save his own ass." Carlisle told her.

"You hope. We have worked so hard for this. What will Alice do when she finds out Edward knows too much? What will happen to us if it gets out?" she whined.

"We'll have to kill him." Carlisle voice was remorseful.

Esme huffed and turned away from her mate.

OH, fuck that.

I wasn't Edward's number one fan, but he just proved his loyalty. Besides the fact of what they put him through for his entire existence.

We all stood a bit stunned watching the snarled train lay at the bottom of the cliff.

"Told you it was Daddy issues." I said into the thick air.

"Do you think they're setting us up?" Peter whispered. Hope leaked from him that it was all true.

"Not if they plan to kill Edward." Jasper said.

"No way." Mac said shaking his head.

"He made sure he told us everything they were thinking, made Carlisle speak out loud. What they said gives them a death sentence being this far involved. Harboring Alice willingly." Char said.

"How could they? They don't even know where Alice is. Carlisle hasn't seen Edward since they were captured. Carlisle hasn't been close enough to be talking to Edward in his head and it's a one-way link anyway." Jasper said shaking his head as well, like he was trying to shake off the trance we were all just in. I felt shocked.

"I think we need to call Eleazar." Peter said. "Maybe get Edward to go back in there."

"I don't want him to think we're using him. He's been used enough just like the rest of us." Jasper said.

"Let him blow off stream. He has a lot to process right now." I said absently agreeing with Jasper. I was trying to think fast. "What do we really need anymore from any of them? We have everything. We have why they were in Eleazar's Line; we have admittance of what they've been doing. Alice's confession and they just confirmed all of it. Alice linked herself to Heidi, and now Carlisle confirmed."

"We don't." Jasper said taking folding his arms over me pulling me against his chest. "We don't need to talk to them again."

"We could get more information about the tournaments." Peter said.

"I don't think they know anything. They didn't mention them at all." Char reminded.

"Let's put Carlisle and Esme in a safe quiet place. Put them underground in a unit. In the meantime," I took a deep breath, "we recorded that, right?" Mac nodded, and gave me a 'duh' look, "This changes things. We have to bring in Eleazar, now. Eleazar can question them; maybe find out if they know where they've been sending these people. If Edward agrees he can be there to see if they know. He can pull it from them. They weren't being blackmailed like we thought. They're in it both feet."

"Yeah, it does, not only do we have one traitor but we have 3 in Eleazar's Line hidden there by Heidi and Alice. Carlisle still performing experiments, Esme… This shit is going to be Council material." Peter turned to me, "I suppose we don't have to fill in Jasper about the council?" he held a mocking to his voice I didn't appreciate.

"UH, as a matter of fact you don't." I grinned at him smugly.

"Oh, you pulled your mouth off his-" SMACK!

"Thanks Char." I laughed at Peter. "At least Jasper's gettin' some."

"Hey-" Peter said irritably.

"Enough," Char cut our argument off.

I looked at the screen displaying Carlisle and Esme at opposite sides of the living room staring out into the forest around them.

"Do we do it here or somewhere else? Show him what we have, bargain with him about the wolves and Irina. This gives us leverage we didn't have before. Make sure we cover all our bases and see where it goes. Showing him it could go either way. He and Carlisle are friends but I really don't see him condoning the behavior, of either of them. But you never know. Esme and Carmen are close as well. But having the Volturi involved… it'll go to the council for sure unless Eleazar just out and out kills them."

"We kill Alice first," Jasper nodded to the screen, "before Eleazar gets his hands on them. That way we make sure her fate is what it is. It's possible her being in Heidi's Line will give her a saving grace."

"Yes, this gives us a timeline for her death. If we don't do it now we may not be able to later."

"True." Char agreed.

"Let's call Zafrina first. We'll need to get 'er to back us. She'll want an update. We can't leave 'er out a' this." Peter said.

"What do we tell her?" Jasper asked.

"The truth. With Zafrina if we leave anything out and she finds out we did, she'd fry us rather than back us." I said.

"Oh, yeah. She wouldn't bat an Amazon lash over that. We're allies, she'd look at it more harshly if we were to hold something back and she found out later." Mac said.

Peter, Char, Mac and the rest of the tech team all turned to look at me.

Ah shit.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

"Zafrina."

"Lo'ly, te' me." Right to the punch.

"We seem to be making headway finally." I started.

"Whoz wit you? Te' me, hez quite.-'

I couldn't stop the growl, "My mate. Major Whitlock is off limits." My tone sharp.

"Oh, you need no worry 'bout me." she pouted.

"Zafrina," I said with a warning tone in my voice, "We have some issues to discuss."

"No vun." She sighed dramatically giving one last glance at Jasper, "what is it lo'ly, what haz you so toubled."

"We talked to Alice, as you know we planned to, and we just got done talking to Carlisle."

"Ohh… you got eem to talk? Tell." she looked excited.

"We strongly believe Heidi is Alice's sire or the head of her line." I said simply.

"Heidi? Az in Heidi Volturi?" Her face was shocked and disbelieving.

"Yes, we knew it was a woman… jut not who. From both Alice and Carlisle we confirmed this."

"No trick?" she asked skeptically.

"I don't think so; we pulled the information with Edward's help. Cheese is sending the information now." as I watched him typing away at his computer.

"Oy, my sweet, do know whad dis means?" she sat back lookin to the side somewhere, thinking. Leaning forward again to look in the camera again, she continued. " 'Dis' is muddee. Dose damn Broders! In da' midle a us." I assumed she was talking about being in the middle of Eleazar and her. Smack in the middle.

"We're talking to you first. We're getting Eleazar over here to break the news to him. We aren't sure what he's going to want to do. There are several options here, as I'm sure you know."

"Kill da' bitches!" Zafrina raised her arm and shook it. Always dramatic.

"What if she was dead before Eleazar could get to her?"

"Do kild 'er?"

I didn't say anything just let her digest it.

"Oy, d' sweet. Ha'e you kilt Cardisle?"

"No." I never said I killed Alice; I wanted to know first what she would say.

"Goot, goot. Adice nod in his line, but eh, Cardisle is. Bad if dou kilt him." She sat still thinking a moment. "I meet wid Eleazar afder dou talk him. Do have tape, no?"

"Yes. You may be surprised; Esme is also a part of this. You'll see on the tape her involvement."

"Goot, goot. Soonder bedder. Esme. I not shocked." She nodded as if that ended it. "De Madjor, bring 'em to meet me. He take der out, he Line hoader bedween us."

I motioned to Jasper.

He looked at me and furrowed his brow.

"She would like to know if you are taking over in Central America."

"Uh." He looked at Zafrina on the screen. "My mate and I need to discuss that further." We had discussed it actually, just not with everyone else yet.

"AH da see." Zafrina commented. "Dou rule wid mate. Do goot. Clean up. We aldies. I back you."

"Zafrina. We will welcome your support." I told her.

She stared at me for a moment.

"Do haven't kild der yet." How the fuck does she do that?

"No."

She nodded her head thinking.

"I wanted to know what you were thinking first Zafrina. We want to kill her before we meet Eleazar." I let her know.

"Dou need do. Beforde Edeazar. Yes. Edeazar go do Broders. Be bad. Take care of her now and have less to mess with. You enough to bargain with. Yes. Cardisle publicly in Edeazar Line, he will kill him."

"We could use her against Heidi and hold the Volturi accountable." I threw out there just to see where she would take it.

"Do dink dey care? Dey say 'we dake care of it'. No. They let her live. Kilt her now why you have chance."

"I agree." Jasper said.

"We have other things going on." I said and we talked about the Intel we'd gotten thus far from her prisoner guards. The information seemed reliable. Finding the island off the coast of Africa was sending excitement throughout all the camps.

Mac found more information and I told her we would be in contact when we were all up to date.

Getting off the call with her finally I banged my head on the table. Talking to her was straining. In the beginning it wasn't so bad. We didn't have all the other stuff going on. She was in this now with us. Although she was easy going, she loved the limelight and the excitement. She'd once told me living life this long grew tedious and predictable. She hated the politics of the Power's and tried to stay out of it. But she loved being involved in a good scam. It wasn't often that this happened. To this extent. She would want to be mixed up with every aspect now.

"We need to prepare for Alice's execution. The less drama around here, the better." I said finally.

"She's still passed out." Cheese said.

"We should get her some blood. I want her coherent and whole when we do this. We'll-" I started and stopped turning to the door as we all heard footsteps racing down the hall.

"Edward." Jasper said and went to the door to open it.

Edward burst in, "You guys got all that right?" He gritted out. Nevell was soon to join him, coming in the door almost breathless. I heard Edward was fast, Nevell only being half vampire would have had a time keeping up with him.

"Yes." We answered him.

He nodded. "I lost it. I'm sorry. I couldn't… I just couldn't… I tried…"

"It's ok. We understand. We got more than enough information to go to Eleazar with. You did really well, Edward." Jasper consoled him.

"You did better than any of the rest of us. Look what happened to Alice with us. You did excellent." I praised.

"Have you contacted Eleazar yet?" He asked.

"No, we were about to discuss when we should meet him, actually." I said.

"I should be the one to call." He was trying to be demanding but it came out hopeful.

My eyes widened at him.

"That would actually be beneficial." Jasper told him. "You would do that?"

"Did you see what he said in there?" Edward asked him sarcastically. He looked strung out, on the edge.

"Hey, man. Back down." Jasper's voice a sharp command. "We all saw. It would be a good idea to have you call. But we need to do this delicately. There's a lot at stake."

"Don't you think I know that? Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I'm-" Jasper grabbed him by the throat, shoving him to the wall, cutting off Edwards rant. Whatever Edward's emotions were, the Major didn't seem to like it.

"Calm the fuck down." Jasper growled and I watched Edward's body slump from whatever Jasper was feeding him emotionally.

"We know," he let go of Edward, stepping back from Edward's slumped body. "You're going through some shit right now. It's a lot to take in man, I know. You're not fucking alone. But don't get on your high horse; it won't get you far in here. Look around you man. These people have been through just as much shit as you have if not more. You aren't the only one being affected here. Have some respect. We all feel your pain; we aren't taking that away from you."

Edward fell all the way to the floor and for a minute I thought he was going to cry.

He nodded his head.

"I would like it a lot if you called Eleazar." I spoke quietly trying to defuse the temper in the room. "He'll listen to you. You know him, he trusts you. We need you to keep a level head and make sure you don't put Eleazar on the defensive, or alert him to what's going on before he gets here. We need him to come alone, Edward. If you tip him off enough, he'll bring an army. You can do this." Edward calmed down as I spoke. The anger in his eyes slowly melted. "We all get it we do. You did wonderful in there. Just reel it in a bit and try to focus."

"You stepping forward, helping to find the information will help when it comes down to it in the end. You calling him… he'll take it in good faith, Edward." Jasper added.

Edward nodded. "Do I call him now?"

"Well. Yes, you can calm down while we take care of Alice, and then you can call. We need to get rid of Alice before he gets here. It's time. Enough talking and more doing." I said standing up.

"About that." Nevell spoke up. "I have a suggestion." Well turned to him waiting. "We do it publicly. I don't care if I light the torch or who lights it. But my people want to witness. I've been talking to Benjamin on the phone, he's in Mongolia as you know, he wants to be here but can't. He's voiced he also wants his people to witness; we want our people to have closure. Randall will stay in his stead."

"That's an excellent idea." Jasper said immediately. "I also have a proposition. I think this is as good a time as any." He looked to me and I smiled and nodded. "I will be leading Alice's line. I would like it if we join forces. Not with one leader but with Benjamin, Peter, Charlotte and you along with B and I."

Nevell stared at him wide eyed.

"I don't want to go back there. To war," Jasper defined. "I don't want to run Central America and Mexico. I think, however, if we join forces we could clean up in no time. Once cleaned up we could move the operation down there, set up a headquarters as you have here. I would like to provide the place and means. Ya'll have built this place, but I don't see Eleazar lettin' us stay. I don't think it would be neither wise nor feasible. Once we get established, I would like to take steps to come forward and declare ourselves as the Power 9."

Nevell was nodding his head with a bit of awe on his face. "Bloody brilliant. I would be honored to lead with you. As you know, B, Peter and Charlotte are family and leaders to us all. I can't speak for Benjamin, but I think he would join you as well." he slowly smiled. "A true united front. To come out and be openly apart of the supernatural world. Bloody hell. Yes."

I turned to Edward. "Have you thought about what's going to happen in the next 24 hours? What all this will mean for you, Emmett and Rosalie?"

By the look of confusion on his face I took that as a no.

"Your sire's reign is coming to an end. You need to prepare yourself for the possibility Eleazar will end Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle is Volturi, no matter how he ended up in Eleazar's Line; he's working for them. If Eleazar decides to end him, Emmett, Rosalie and you will be soon to follow. Emmett and Rosalie, we will bargain for since they aren't here, and don't know any of this. They won't be in the know until it's over. You, however, are here and in the know and will be calling Eleazar. It is custom to kill an entire line as closely knit as yours when the leader has committed treason. Which is, what he has done"

"What!" His eyes bugged out. I raised my hand stopping him.

"I'll take him." Nevell said before I could say or suggest anything. "Carlisle is my sire as well. He is my creator. I hold enough power Edward can join my line." Turning to Edward he said. "We could give you protection. Today would give you the perfect opportunity to separate yourself from Carlisle and Alice. You will have to publicly denounce Carlisle, no better time to do that than at Alice's execution today. The event will be filmed as well as having plenty of witnesses."

"Protection?" Edward breathed.

"Yes, Eleazar will not be able to touch you without repercussions from us." Nevell said lowly. I was a little astounded at how far he was willing to go for Edward. Maybe I shouldn't be. Jasper squeezed my hand and sent me awe; maybe I wasn't the only one who was flabbergasted.

Edward ran his hand through his hair. "You would do that? What do I have to do, I don't-"

"Nothing, other than stand in front of Carlisle today, after we take care of Alice, and tell him you are no longer in his command." Nevell's voice turned sterner. "You've earned a bit of trust and respect from all of us. But don't let it go to your head. None of us can afford for you to leave on your own. Until it settles down you'll be watched. Not until after the Volturi have been dealt with will you be left alone. I know it seems unfair, but I am not a betting man. I will not jeopardize my people by foolish mistakes."

Edward nodded his head. "Do I get to be involved with the rest? The games? The labs?" Edward asked.

"You'll have to train like the rest of us. When Emmett and Rosalie get back with Josh you can train with them. When that's finished we'll see where were at." Nevell said.

Edward nodded. "When do I denounce? How do I do it?"

We all told him what would happen and how to go about it. It was pretty simple really.

This was going to be an interesting afternoon.

"Where can I call Eleazar? When do I ask him to meet us?"

"You can call from here. Mac will get you a secure line to Eleazar's cell phone." Cheese piped up. Mac got up from his monitor he was working on and gave Cheese a dirty look. I snickered. Mac was always giving orders to the rest of them to do this or that. Cheese volunteering Mac to do something when he could have done it himself was funny.

Peter nodded rubbing his hands together. "This is going to work out better than we thought. All of it. It's going to all be good."

"What do you know, Peter?" Jasper asked.

"Eleazar is going to surprise us. You'll see." He said mysteriously. In other words that's all he knew. I learned Peter's 'tells' along time ago. When he said 'you'll see' it meant _he_ would be seeing as well. Knowing it was going to go well was a relief however.

Mac got Edward a secure line and gave him the phone putting it on speaker.

"…Hello?" Came a slightly accented male voice over the line.

"Yes, hello, Eleazar this is Edward Cullen." I swear Edward's voice shook a little. This had to be surreal right now for him. He was calling for his sire's death. After a hundred and thirty years believing in someone to find out it was all a set up and a lie? I could only imagine the devastation that would catch up to him eventually.

"Edward, Hello! What a surprise to hear from you. I talked to Carlisle just a few days ago, you have moved to Canada again! Welcome to this part of the country! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"This isn't, unfortunately, a social call Eleazar." Edward informed the leader.

"Oh?" Curiosity shaded Eleazar's voice.

"I was wondering if it were possible to get a word with you in private." Edward asked.

"You are always welcome here, Edward, I've always told you that." Eleazar assured him.

"Yes, and I'm very grateful, but I need your council here rather than me coming to you."

"I don't understand, Edward. Why are you being so formal? Are you ok? You're calling from a private number and acting… strange. What is this about? Is the family well?" Eleazar's inquired worriedly.

"I'm calling from a friend's phone. I don't want to talk to you about it over the phone. This matter is very delicate." Edward assured him.

"Is the family ok?"

"Well, we're having some difficulties. It would be better-explained face to face Eleazar. We need you here as soon as you can. There is much to discuss. We have come to a crossroads and need a bit of your guidance."

There was a long pause.

"We can come. I will have to wait for –" Eleazar spoke finally.

"Just you Eleazar." Edward was quick to cut him off.

Another pause. "I will not leave without Carmen. She is here and much distressed over this phone call. Are you all in danger?"

"No, nothing like that. Not right now, but we could be if we don't meet with you very soon. Carmen is welcome to come." Edward put in at the end. We all nodded at him. I didn't figure he would come without his mate. It would be foolish for us to ask.

"I see. You are being mysterious. I'm not sure how to take all this. Carmen and I will be there. We can be there by late afternoon, I think. Is there a number I can reach you by? Am I to come to the new house?"

Mac handed him the number to the private line, nodding to Edward to tell Eleazar yes about the house. Edward recited the digits and was sure to tell him he would be meeting him at the airport. Eleazar agreed. The Denali's being a close friend with Carlisle for so long paid off for us. If any of the rest of us would have called, I doubt we would have gotten him to agree so quickly or at all. This saved us a huge headache.

"What do we do now?" Edward asked after hanging up.

"We prepare for the execution of one Mary-Alice Bysshop. We fed her blood and she's coming around slowly." Mac informed us.

"Would you like to speak to her again?" Jasper asked Edward.

He thought about it a moment. "Yes, I have a few questions." his voice held so much emotion.

"Would you like to do it in private, or at the arena?" I asked.

He looked over at me, "We can do it there. Knowing now what I know… I don't think I could hold back depending on what she says. I think the only reason I didn't rip Carlisle apart is out of habit and years of conditioning. Is it sick for me to say I still hold respect for the man? I don't understand it."

"It does make sense." Jasper said quietly. "I think you'll find, Edward, the respect is for the man you thought you knew, not the man you know him to be now."

Edward nodded. I noticed people leaving the room quietly as Nevell, Peter, Char, Jasper and I all began to talk with Edward. The ones who remained turned their backs to us, busying themselves with other matters needing attention, trying to give us the illusion of privacy.

"I just can't wrap my head around… how he could… and for me not to know." Edward said to no one unparticular. "I feel like I never knew him at all. What he did to Rosalie. I can't figure out how I didn't know… I mean… I should have known right?"

When Jasper spoke, he sounded as if he was talking Edward off a ledge; I wondered how close he was to falling off, "If he already knew how to control his thoughts around you… it's possible, as you know now. We all know it's impossible for Rosalie to actually conceive and carry in the state she was in. It wouldn't make sense. He could have easily implanted in another human what he took from the two of you. He's a doctor making house calls all the time; it wouldn't have been strange for him to check on a pregnant woman or to think about the pregnancy. It's not your fault."

"I should have known. All I was concerned about at the time was the fact he changed her. How I thought it was ludicrous. Then when she woke up, I spent time with her, trying to help with the bloodlust." Edward said, working out what had been happening at the time. "Carlisle was gone a lot, but he was there helping as well. I didn't… I just can't believe I missed something so significant."

Jasper drew in a deep breath and asked what we all wanted to know, "What were the results when you asked?"

He didn't have to clarify and didn't need to, Edward understood. His face crumpled in anguish and Jasper's knees gave out slightly from the emotion coming from Edward. "He pictured the woman dying. The child was too much for her to bear." He breathed. "She died within the first few weeks after she was…" he rubbed his face and I realized he had tears in his eyes. He looked around himself like he was realizing where he was.

Monstress let out a distressed purr from my chest. Char sniffed and wiped away her own venom from her cheeks. The Major didn't even respond to the emotion coming from Monstress and I; that we ached for another man. It was altogether the wrong kind of ache.

Edward cleared venom from his throat, "The pictures were very vivid. It was not… it was not pretty. I can't … I can't talk about it."

He started to leave and Nevell beat him to the door to release him from the room and then followed Edward out.

We stood in silence for a long while after they were gone.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)

The morning sun hinted it's rising over the mountain towering in front of us. The air came alive with tiny molecules swaying and dipping in the cool air currents, glinting in the warm rays just cresting the horizon. It was eerily quiet as we all gathered into the pit.

The training pit was a huge oval shaped clearing set to the northeast of the sentry camp. Large boulders and fallen trees usually graced various areas in the mile long obstacle course. The ground was a combination of dirt and sand, pummeled over time by vampires, dhampirs, ghouls and thrown chunks of granite. It was a rough terrain we trained and sparred against one another on, keeping ourselves and our wits, sharp.

The boulders and trees were moved to the outer reaches of the pit this morning, leaving a large empty space for us to all gather. In the center now stood a steel pole erected straight in the air. Underneath the steel lay moss and bracken piled a quarter of the way up. Surrounding and containing it all was a wall of smaller rocks a couple of feet tall.

In the center of the pole, feet resting atop the pyre, tied by vamp-ash bindings, was an alert and terrified Mary-Alice Bysshop.

We stood before her. Jasper faced her head on, I stood to his left and Peter and Charlotte to his right. To my left stood Nevell and surrounding him were the other dhampirs in the camp. To Peter's right stood Randal standing in for Benjamin, the head Ghoul, and surrounding him were the other ghouls.

Carlisle and Esme were amongst the ghouls, shoved to the front and held in place. The dhampirs refused to stand with them. Those that hadn't heard the screaming exchange a few hours ago, were soon enlightened and if they weren't pissed off before they were enraged now.

Carlisle and Esme both tried to hold stoic poses but you could see the stress in both their faces. They were informed what was taking place only as they were being escorted here. I could see the horror in Esme's eyes. After what I learned, I was having trouble feeling anything for either of them. This would be quick compared to what they fated countless vampires and humans to over the past century.

Monstress was completely at the forefront giving off low snarls and snorts as she and I took in our surroundings.

Edward stood to the left of Nevell. Nevell and Edward were bonding quickly it seemed. I found amusement in that. But if you thought about it, it made sense, seeing as the same man sired them.

Mac stood in the 15-foot expanse separating Alice from us. He turned facing the group of us.

Cameras were set up around us for documentation. There were around 60 or so beings out to witness the event.

"Do you have anything to say before we sentence Mary-Alice Bysshop, the Southern Mistress, to death?" Mac asked. We all shook our heads and turned as Edward spoke.

"I have a question first if you don't mind." Edward stepped forward and Mac nodded his head, stepping back to give him the floor.

You could see Edward gather himself visibly and turn to Alice.

"Do you want me to untie her mouth?" I whispered.

He looked back at me giving a sad small smile and shook his head.

Turning back around, he looked at Alice for a moment.

"Why did you go to Carlisle in the first place? Why did you send Heidi to him?"

I heard Esme growl, but we all ignored her.

We watched as Alice breathed through her nose and turned her head from him. Watching a one-way conversation was bizarre.

"What did Heidi hope to gain from Carlisle being in Eleazar's Line?" Edward asked.

He waited as we watched Alice scrunch her brow.

I wondered truly if he could actually read anything from her. She would be singing in her head to keep him out.

"Why were you in Eleazar's Line? How were you going to take it? When were you going to kill Eleazar? Does Maria play into your plans? Where does Carlisle fit into this? Where were you sending the gifted? Where are they now?" he pummeled her with questions one right after the other. He didn't relent. He kept up his questions, asking the same things over and over.

After 15 minutes of constant barking, Edward simply stated, "You were going to take over Eleazar's Line."

Esme whimpered and it was Carlisle's turn to growl this time.

"For the Volturi or your own gain." Alice turned her head and stared at Edward in rage.

"….She's done talking." He said turning and taking his place next to Nevell.

"I must ask," Peter said. "What, if anythin', did you uncover?" his voice holding amusement at the display.

"Alice and Heidi planned to take Eleazar within the next year or two, possibly. Maria's army is quite large now; at least from the few glimpses I got from her. Alice's hatred for you all is astounding for ruining so many centuries of well-crafted plans so close to their goal. Heidi planned to take Eleazar's Line herself. She's been funding the Southern wars, helping Maria build and provide for their armies. The few potential gifted who survived are with Maria now."

Well, that answered a few things.

Jasper nodded and letting go of my hand, he stepped forward.

"Mary-Alice," Jasper's voice dripped with hate. "You have brought heart-ache and pain to thousands of vampires, dhampirs, ghouls, and humans in our world alike. You have corralled, harnessed and manipulated those around you and across many lands. You have takin', never given, never thought twice about anyone but your objective and how to gain it by any means possible. Interfering, destroying and weaving your webs.

Mary-Alice Bysshop, creation of Heidi Volturi, Mistress of the South, we find you guilty of treason. You are hear-by sentenced to death this day. Do you have any final words?" I could see his body tremble with the emotion, his and of those around us. Elation, excitement, fear, awe and all and all relief flooded through our group as we stood staring at the vampire responsible for so many deaths and destruction for over four centuries.

I reached my power forward, stretching, twisting it, and wishing not for the first time that my power could rip her apart by shear will alone. I interlocked my grip with the leather and ash bindings around her jaw and unwrapped them for the last time. Monstress snarled and growled, kneading me with her anticipation.

"Fuck you all!" She screamed as soon as the bindings dropped away.

Jasper nodded and I stepped forward followed by Peter, Charlotte, Nevell, and Randal. Mac lit the 6 torches we carried.

Carlisle and Esme tried to protest, but I blocked them out. I didn't want to hear it.

As Alice screamed threats of grandeur from her perch, we all stepped forward as one and laid fire to her Pyre as we tossed our torches.

It lit ablaze.

We blurred back keeping a safe distance as the flames licked and crackled.

Jasper grabbed my hand and I took it, holding it tightly.

Flames flickered then flared spreading quickly up the dry bracken. Crackling and smoldering as the flames took off, eating what was offered.

Alice's screams grew as her clothes began to smolder and smoke. The flames were relentless in pursuit of its fuel as they caught the taste of venom.

The blaze grew blue as it hissed against her and began to melt her flesh.

Once the fire hit the venom it flared and rushed up her body cutting off her screams. Swarming, swirling, and flaring as it created a blanket around her. Engulfing her. The smell of incense from the vampire venom filled our nostrils and churned its way through the crowd.

Mary-Alice became ash before us.

One last enormous flare erupted as the flames claimed our sacrifice to them. As the flames died down from their feeding and became smoldering embers, the crowd began to disperse. Some walked by to look at the remains, others merely lost in the affair, wandered off. The relief and joy was crushing.

Monstress and I purred in our contentment. I wasn't the only one to rejoice in the taking of her life. I heard various noises of relief and joy around us.

No words were spoken as the crowd thinned. It was always a two fold as we watched one of our own, or one of the supernatural, die before us by our own hands. We fought everyday to keep so many alive. To save those who could no longer save themselves. Some of us died in the fight to save others. Some went off the deep end from seeing what our kind was capable of doing to each other. We all had a stake in this silent war, one way or another.

To witness ourselves passing judgment to one of our own and sentencing them to death by our own hands, as they sat motionless at our mercy, was profound. None of us took it lightly. None of enjoyed it.

The flip side of the coin of course was the joy sweeping through us. The knowledge that we had taken yet another down who was directly involved, whose hand in killing hundreds if not thousands, was even more overpowering. It could drop you to your knees with the weight of it.

Carlisle stood stoically holding Esme up against him as she wept. They would be following the same fate if I had anything to do with it. He would never relent; he would never put aside his nature of destruction. Esme would follow because they were truly mates. Loosing a mate would send her to crazy land and her instincts would tell her to avenge what was hers. Her part in this alone however demanded retribution. Countless humans and vampires were sent to their deaths unknowingly by her hands.

I was curious to know how she played a roll in the Forks debauchery. With her gift she had to have known about me. Hadn't she?

Mac's movement took my eyes from the couple as he stepped forward to shuffle the embers and mix the ash of the bracken with what was once Alice. We would not be using her ash for our cause. A jar would be sent or given to the La Push wolves as promised. The others were to be sent to Maria and Heidi as warning. They would know Alice had fallen, and there was nothing they could do about it.

As the crowd thinned I saw Esme pull her head off Carlisle's chest. I could see her in my peripheral coming to us. Carlisle tried to stop her, but she slapped his hands away.

She passed by Char and Peter giving them glares. As she passed by Jasper she hissed.

He let out a warning growl, as she tried to pass him he stepped in front of her protecting me.

"Don't you dare! Let me by!" she told him. I put my hand to his back and sent him some reassurance.

"Don't talk to my mate in that tone or manner. You have no right." my voice low with a warning of my own. Monstress peered out at her, flaring her nostrils and huffing.

She turned her eyes from Jasper to me. "How could you? She was your best friend! You were her only real friend in this world!" she yelled.

I snorted. "Esme, you seem to be delusional, are you feeling all right?"

She huffed, "How can you act so blasé when you just killed a woman!"

"Don't pretend to know me or how I feel. Get off your high horse. How can you, Esme, defend someone like that? Do you not get the full picture here or are you playing dumb? You seem to be quite good at that. You have the whole Stepford wife role down pat."

"What …you… I've done nothing wrong!" she stuttered appalled.

"No? You've been supplying the Volturi with innocent people for decades now. You and prince charming over there willingly send people to their deaths. You lie, forgive your husband his horrible wretched acts, and never lift a finger to help those he affects. Eleazar will be here in…" I looked to Mac.

"Seven hours." He said.

"Then you can tell him all your woes. Let him decide." I finished.

"You can't do that. You don't know what will happen-" Carlisle said stepping forward.

"It's done." Edward said as he came to stand by his sire.

"What is the meaning of this, Edward? Please don't tell me you are going along with this. Please think about what will happen-" Carlisle pleaded to no avail.

"I am hereby denouncing myself from you…" Edward disregarded Carlisle's words altogether.

"WHAT? You can't do that! Think about what you're doing! Son. We've done this for you, for us. For all of us." Carlisle pled.

"I no longer wish for your protection, manipulation, lies, or want any part of your activities. I denounce myself from you and you're hold. I declare myself free." He stepped back, spun and walked away.

The air was bitter with disappointment. Silence fell upon us once more as we watched Carlisle's face crumple and Esme stare after Edward in disbelief.

I have no idea how hard that must have just been, but the emotions coming off of everyone made Jasper take a step back into me.

"Well…" Esme started, looking at her mate, "Go after him Carlisle! We need him."

"No one will be going after anyone. We will be leaving shortly to meet Eleazar in your home. I would start saying good-bye to each other, if I were you." Jasper informed them as ghouls came up behind them and took them back to camp.

We watched as they protested and hollered. We finally restrained them, taking them to the hanger at the chopper landing. Several ghouls stayed with them as we went to occupy our minds for a few hours. I couldn't sit idle, and it seemed the rest were the same. We made our way to Command central to distract ourselves.

Besides, depending on what Eleazar wanted to know, we may have to brief him on what was going on. It was better for all of us to be on the same page.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)

We met in the Command room and hovered over the illuminated maps Mac and the tech team found so far. Blue print and schematics of the island showed little. We didn't know what was on the ground as far as people. Mac had found more on financials of the owners than what was happening on the ground.

It was impressive. The 3-4 story mansion, plantation, castle or whatever you wanted to call it was enormous. For the supposed two occupants it was a little over the top. According to sources, the establishment was there for the last hundred years or so. 20 years ago it changed hands to a private owner. An owner who was well known as a second in Vladimir's Line.

"Ok, quick question, whose territory are we walking into? I know the Volturi have Europe, but who has these outlaying areas? Does Vladimir's territory run down there?" Jasper asked.

Peter flipped the map on the table and moved papers out of the way.

"That seems to be the question. To the north are the Brothers; they also have Turkey over to Portugal and up. To the south is Yakini in most of Africa; she has Libya, Algeria, and down. To the east is Sophia in Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, all the way over to Mongolia and China."

"Jesus, right square in the middle of 3 Powerhouses. Who has Morocco?" Jasper asked looking at the world map.

"The Brothers."

"So there sitting surrounded… So… question is, do any of them know.." Jasper remarked.

"I wouldn't think it. Vladimir and his brother don't get along with anyone. They compete with Volterra for enemies. It's possible they teamed up with someone, but my guess is they're thumbing their noses at all of them by being there." Peter said.

"Perfect place to hide. The territory is neutral ground. Just like no one owns Jordan or places like that. It's off limits. They wouldn't suspect someone from Vladimir's Line to come squat in it, let alone any of the three of them."

"Well, we know we can't and won't go in through the Volturi territory. That leaves Sophia and Yakini. Now we don't really know Yakini, Sophia however…" I looked at Peter's shit eating grin.

"We can drop by Turkey and see Pefika at the same time. Come down through Volturi land, into Sophia's Territory. There's several islands, a few miles away from 'island doom', we can organize and set up a base camp."

"What about their security?" I asked.

"State of the art, but they only have it on the island as far as we can tell from financials. We've people ascending to outer islands now they should be reporting back soon. Being in the middle of 3 powers I would imagine they have it up and running at all times. Our people on the ground will tell us how far that reaches." Mac said.

"How many do we have there?" Jasper asked.

"Tactical team we have a dozen. In Mongolia we have several units who are in the process of preparing to move out if we need them. Each unit holds a dozen as well."

"Do we know what they're hiding? What their doing? Is this just another lab?"

"We have shipments of various things documented going to the island. Meat, food, medical supplies, that sort of thing. That's the stuff they get from the human population. We don't know what else they're getting. This isn't set up like a normal lab. It's more sophisticated it would seem. I would say we found our first training establishment. There are grounds here," Mac pointed, "appearing to be a pit like ours. We're still waiting for current satellite imagery. It should upload in that area in a few hours."

"How old are these pictures?"

"About 15 years old. I can't find anything newer, which is strange. We're moving our own satellite over these coordinates to get our own uplinks."

"So someone erased or made sure this island disappeared off radar."

"Yes."

"A lot of what needs to happen will depend on those pictures and what has changed. Our team is setting up to do recon as we speak. They'll have to wait for dark; we won't get the results until we get back from meeting with Eleazar."

We discussed what we would do depending what we found. Filling in Jasper what we usually do. He'd seen a little of how we were set up and how we went to places. This however looked like a completely different set up. We went over possible game plans.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)

We arrived at the Cullens house an hour before Eleazar was to arrive at the airport. The airport was only half an hour away by chopper. Setting up what we would need to show Eleazar and Carmen was quick and easy. Edward accompanied with Peter and Char went to meet them at the airport.

I was on pins and needles waiting. Jasper talked to me, asking me questions about nonsensical things trying to distract me. It didn't really work. Everything seemed to be coming together and was riding on what would happen in the next few hours. I tried to pull my head out of my ass, but failed.

My life right now was a whirlwind I couldn't control. I didn't like relying on others to determine our fate. Eleazar could demand we move now. He could declare war on us. Not that he would do it while he was here, but I'm sure depending on his reaction we could tell what our future held.

I also hadn't seen this coming. I was pretty sure Carlisle was being blackmailed. Knowing now that he wasn't put a new dynamic on the situation. He willingly went along with her. He was still connected to the Volturi. He was supplying them for god sake, knowing what it would do to his family if anyone found out.

To me his research was ludicrous. Ok, maybe not about the sparkly thing, I could do without that, but to send thousands to their deaths so you didn't flag down planes? I hardly think so. Turning vampires back into humans by means of torturing and tearing them apart? What sense did that even make? Their conversation was up and down and followed no set path. Too many emotions stormed through the confrontation for there to be a much focus on one thing for too long.

My morbid curiosity wanted to know what really happened with Rosalie and Edward. Edward was made way before Rose. So how was it that Carlisle used Edward? Freeze his sperm? The man had no morals. This was mind boggling, seeing as how he presented his life and seemed to guide the others to live theirs.

I was so grateful Emmett and Rose weren't there during all of that. We would have to tell her eventually. I wouldn't keep anything from them. It wasn't fare or wise. She had a right to know. They would wonder why Carlisle and Esme were fated in whichever way Eleazar deemed fit anyway. They would watch the tapes just like everyone else. Rose and I had our problems, but I wished something like this on no one.

We would be getting more answers to other questions tonight as well. I had a feeling the drama earlier would be nothing on what it would be like tonight. Although, I'd been wrong a lot lately.

I asked Edward why he had questioned her they way he had. He said with Alice he learned the best way to break her mind when she tried to keep him out was to ask incessant questions. Jasper laughed and said it used to drive Alice mad when Edward would use the technique on her. It would annoy the shit out of Jasper when they would do it when he was around. Edward never thought it would pay off so greatly in the end.

Edward gave us more details about what he found out. It was hearsay, but I'd take it.

We heard the chopper landing outside. I stood leaning against the far wall of the living room by the fireplace waiting. Jasper stood next to me. He sighed heavily and reached to pull me to him, wrapping his arm around my waist.

Here we go.

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A/N

**Well well well.. Ding Dong…. Alice is gong… gone…**

**(I've wished for years I had that big gong from the Gong Show… I don't know if any of you remember that show or not… but there's been plenty of times in life where I wish I had that big gold thing to gong the hell out of people when they're annoying. ANYWAY….**

**I've watched Alice die in so many ways… I wanted to do something a little different. Hope I didn't blow it and you all like it. For some reason this chapter was hard for me.**

**~ RECOMMENDED~ A Blog to those of you who enjoy the darker fanfics…. ****Darkest Temptations****. Their sight is awesome! If you don't know what kind of dark you like, they'll help you figure it out… They've even got some dark Emmett! They have great stuff for most everyone. Some Darksper… Darkward… Dark Fems and some Darkisle…. Go… go check it out!**

**~If ya'll get a chance go check out **_**Savage Grace's **_**Jasper & Bella Online**** at Paper .li **

**There's some great REC's there too for fanfic's! I've found a few I hadn't found yet, or had time to go find. There are such amazing writers out there! **

**OH, OH… Whatcha think of Esme's crazy side? There are so many who dislike Rosalie and Alice… but I secretly don't like Esme…. She rubs me wrong…lol**

**I ROLL ON THE SQUARE SIDE OF THE BALL.**

**Tell me if you guys would like to read Jasper's POV on the Mating Dance in the fourth chap… if enough people want it, I'll post it.. **

**Have a great weekend! See ya'll next week.**

**Leave some love!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**

**Sorry this isn't a full update.**

**Just a tid bit to tide you over and let you know;**

**_I posted the one shot of Jasper and Major's Pov from the Lovin scene _**

_**in the 4th Chapter. GO to my stories it should be there!**_

_**HOT HOT HOT!**_

**Below is just a tid bit of what will be posted this weekend, given ya a sneak peek.**

**~Chapter 11 Sneak Look~**

~Izzy POV~

Eleazar took her in from head to toe, "Tell me. No games. You tell me now or I'll kill you right without further thought."

"El-" Carlisle shrieked.

"Shut up Carlisle. You will have your chance to speak, I am speaking to your mate." facing Esme he repeated his inquiry.

"I don't know how. I just see they could be something. They… they shine more than others." She stuttered, and her voice held defiance.

"Shine?" Eleazar scoffed.

"Like an aura?" Carmen asked her.

Esme turned to her pleadingly, "Please, Carmen, we have been-"

"LIKE an aura?" she repeated through grinding teeth.

"Yes," Esme snapped seeming to realize Carmen no longer wished her friendship nor was going to tolerate her goody-goody attitude.

"This is most troubling. The entire situation." Turning back to me Eleazar took my measure again seemingly with new eyes. "You had no right to kill Alice." Ah negotiation time. Yeah, me.

I finally stood. I wasn't sure why I was feeling so confident all of a sudden. Maybe because we had one of the largest leaders before us, unarmed, unguarded, alone with his mate, and the place was surrounded by our sentry. Possible. Or maybe it was just because I could feel closure coming. Finally putting all this shit to rest. In a few days if Eleazar decided to send a hit man to kill me, I probably wouldn't be so smug, but for right now, I was almost, dare I say, fucking giddy. Eleazar was reacting how we hoped.

Jasper came to my side as I stood fully, "We all killed Alice."

Eleazar's eyes narrowed quickly at Jasper and I hissed. Speaking carefully I answered, "Killing Alice was our right. Jasper's stand in her Line gave him that right. All the other reasons behind it make no difference, it just served to back us for what we did."

"Knowing what you know, you should have brought her before me. You should have come to me long before now." Eleazar spoke sharply.

"I am not in your Line. Neither is Jasper. Hell the only one truly in your Line here is Carmen. As for not coming sooner, we could not. As you well know from watching the video, there's a lot more at stake here than who got to kill Alice."

"There were many things we wanted to do, but our hands were tied. In a perfect world, we would have come to you and made everything right from the beginning. But that's not the case. Nothing here is that simple or uncomplicated. We have the wolves to consider. There's Maria to consider, just as we have Heidi and the Volturi. Those are all still dangers we face now, we're just prepared now, unlike before. "

"Ah, yes. So it would seem." He studied me a minute more and turned to Carlisle who was now standing before the hole in the wall with his hands fisted staring at Eleazar trying, it seemed, to light him on fire.

"What must your sire think of you?" Eleazar asked him and Edward let out a snarly scream staring at Carlisle wide eyed.

What the fuck?

"STAY OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!" Carlisle bellowed at Edward.

"You.. you." Edward tried to speak. Eleazar's question prompted something deep and dark in Carlisle. His face morphed into something sinister and looked every part of a vampire.

Edward's mouth hung open and he was trying to form words, Carlisle beat him to the punch "Don't speak of it! Don't you fucking _dare_!" He screamed. But I wasn't sure who he was talking to, Edward who sifted his thoughts or Eleazar who was now smiling sardonically.

Eleazar let out a harsh laugh. "I am surprised in all this time, he never slipped in front of you." addressing Edward first, "It is the darkest of the dark for Carlisle. He does not speak of it, ever." Turning once again to a panting and crazy looking Carlisle he asked, "Would you like to enlighten everyone Carlisle, or shall I?"

"Eleazar, please. I beg of you, I will do anything-" Carlisle bargained.

"I believe you already proved that. The gloves are off. It would seem nothing is sacred to you, so be it for me to harbor anything sacred for you. Am I to assume I am the only one to know this deepest darkest secret of yours?" Eleazar's voice now held little compassion yet there was sadness in his eyes as he looked at his old friend.

Carlisle choked and fell to his knees realizing Eleazar held every intention of telling everyone.

"Did Alice know?" Eleazar asked.

Carlisle shook his head as he bent over at the waist praying to the floor clutching his chest, rocking up and down.

"Would you care to enlighten us," Jasper's voice was tight with tension, whatever was coming off Carlisle now seemed to make Jasper stiffen from its potency. Jasper didn't seem too inclined to help Carlisle's suffering any. I would imagine Jasper felt as I did. If what Carlisle had already done wasn't bad enough, this must be worse. Much worse.

Carlisle hissed and snarled, but never relented his posture.

"Ah, yes. You see." Eleazar addressed us, "You all know the story of Carlisle's creation into our world? His father was quite radical in the church, killing those of us they could. As his father became older and ailing he became more brazen in his crusade. Mostly he burned innocent people at the stake. He formed a large following and many believers in his endeavors, however. His aging pastor father passed onto his human son, the reigns he could no longer seize. Carlisle took the reigns from him with pride when his father could no longer sustain them, due to his health. But what many do not know is that his father did not die, or suffer an unknown illness. No, he did not, did he Carlisle?" Eleazar turned back to Carlisle and his face actually held deep sympathy.

(=+=+=+=+)

**See you this weekend! **

**Thank you for the great response for last chapter... as always you blow me away!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**

**OK... I can't wait to post this weekend... I'm doing it now**

*******The teaser I posted earlier this week. **

****I truly did not mean to make people crazy… the whole point of posting the last chapter was to divert your attention to the OUTTAKES I posted for this story. I thought by giving you a teaser and a full chapter of Jasper's POV would mollify you all… some were, :) ****lol ... I can't please everyone. *shrugs***

**Thank you to everyone who has stayed with this story and enjoyed reading it as much as I have had writing it! **

**HUGE THANKS TO MY BETA~ BRIPEARL! **

**SM owns Twilight, I own this one!**

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

~ **End of An Era** ~

_Previously;_

_We heard the chopper landing outside. I stood, leaning against the far wall of the living room by the fireplace waiting. Jasper stood next to me. He sighed heavily and reached to pull me to him, wrapping his arm around my waist._

_Here we go._

~**Izzy POV**~

Carlisle and Esme were occupying the couch across the room from us. They stood turning to face the entrance awaiting our new arrivals.

They hadn't said much of anything since we set foot in the house. Jasper shared their fear and apprehension with me not long ago. It proceeded to grow until I elbowed him. Knowing he suffered their emotions along with them, although by the smirk on his face he was more likely relishing in it, made my mind boggle and blood boil. I didn't know how he did it and I wanted to hurt them for causing him any discomfort. After that, I tried to relax and send him a variety of emotions fucking with him. Desire, confusion, lust, trust, confidence, embarrassment, more lust and anything I could focus on to create. Humor was my favorite. I brought forth some of the funniest things about Peter in, Char and Nevell that I could, remembering every detail of the fuckery and shoved the emotion as hard as I could at him. He snickered, to Carlisle and Esme's disappointment, which only made me find more humor in that of course… emotions are a vicious thing.

Esme refused to look at us and Carlisle kept giving covert glares. Esme's cold shoulder was a little too funny to me. Who the hell did they think they were kidding?

They stood now looking distraught, as they should be, watching the entrance.

I got my first look at one of the oldest leaders in the history of our culture as Eleazar entered the house. He was tall and well defined. I'd seen pictures, but his stature was something to be experienced before you could understand the true impression of his presence. I didn't know what I was expecting but he looked the very part of a dignitary. He was older in age when he was changed as well as his mate had been, who entered directly behind him. His strong, no nonsense demeanor filled the room, making me feel as though I should bow or something. The only thing missing were huge bodyguards with black glasses and wires in their ears, dressed in tuxes.

He also looked extremely expectant and cautious as hell. Who could blame him?

Eleazar and Carmen walked in ahead of Edward, Peter and Charlotte, who were right behind them. They were closely followed by Randal, Mac and Nevell who had been outside watching the perimeter with the others we had out there.

As they came forth Carlisle and Esme greeted them as the honorable hosts they were, giving hugs and whispered words of how happy everyone was to see each other. As they did their hallmark routine Jasper and I began to creep forward to the foursome.

"Carlisle, Esme, it's a pleasure to see you as always. I must say I'm a little concerned," Eleazar said looking around the room flicking his eyes over us, "all this cloak and dagger routine is beginning to make me a little nervous."

Jasper chose then to step forward, cutting anything Carlisle was going to say off as we reached them, "Hello, Eleazar, It's good to see you under the circumstances." He reached forward to shake his hand.

"Jasper! Wonderful to see you, where is your mate?" I held back my growl as best I could as Eleazar glanced once again to me and back to Jasper. I held Monstress down, as she demanded to correct the error. I knew Jasper would handle it. We didn't need to create havoc just yet.

"Well, it's part of the reason why we're all here. Alice is not my mate." Jasper's calm correction mollified us somewhat.

Carmen gasped and covered her mouth with her hand and Eleazar's eyebrows shot into his forehead, "What do you mean; Alice is not your mate? Would you like to explain?" Eleazar said and stepped back taking in the room more closely. "Who are all these people? Why have you asked me here?" Huh, he didn't ask _what_ they were he asked _who_. Guess that answered some questions.

I stepped forward then, "Hello Eleazar. My name is Izzy, it is a pleasure to meet you, I've heard many good things about you over the years." I held my hand out as his eyes widened, but he didn't take my hand. Ok, do I stink? I held the urge back to sniff my pits.

"You are a very talented young lady aren't you? I must say I cannot return the sentiment, my dear, I've not heard a word of you." his words careful as he took my measure.

"Actually you may remember me better as Bella. Bella Swan." Whoa. I hadn't uttered those words together for nearly a decade or longer. It felt foreign even on my own tongue. I sounded like frecking James bloody Bond.

His eyes widened further as Carmen unfolded her hand from her mouth. "You are Edward's lost mate?" and she turned to look at Edward who shook his head.

Jasper hissed under his breath.

"No, yes… no," I sighed. "There seems to be a universal misunderstanding where mate-ships lay. As you can see I'm not lost. Or dead. Quite the opposite. We have asked you here today to clear the air and give you some information we believe you are unaware of. If you would like to take a seat, we could start filling you in and correct some misinformation you have." I can be dignified too. Or try.

Waiting, I held my breath and kept my posture firm as I shared the intense gaze of the man before me. Monstress kept her presence under lock for the time being to which I was grateful. She rarely showed herself to others and now was not the time for such an introduction or to see if we could intimidate someone so powerful.

Eleazar seemed to come to some conclusion all his own when he gave a sharp nod, turning to guide his mate to sit.

Jasper and I sat down on the couch directly across from them with Peter and Char to Jasper's right.

Eleazar and Carmen sat in the loveseat where once Carlisle and Esme sat, while Carlisle and Esme took two plush chairs side-by-side on the outer circle and closer to Eleazar than to us. Mac, Nevell and Randal found stray chairs on the outskirts of the room and sat to the left of us being as unobtrusive as they could.

Edward looked around the room and after sharing eye contact with Jasper, sat in the chair to my immediate left. Edward learns fast.

Edward actually jumped in and started talking first.

"We will spare you the long drawn out version of events. Be- er, Izzy is alive obviously. We found this out just but a few days ago. She is also Jasper's true mate. It has recently come to light from Izzy, Peter, Char, Nevell and the others' investigations over the last 10 years, that our family is not who they say they are, or what they pretend to be." He gave a furtive quick glance in Esme direction.

"Edward!" Esme clipped.

He paid no heed to her, "I don't know where to begin really."

"What you need to know, Eleazar," I said jumping in. "is that the Cullen family harbors a few bad seeds. There is no easy way to tell you this, and what I'm about to say, above all else, please remember, we have brought proof to our claims. I want you to know this-"

"You have no proof! Only heresy. You're destroying this family, disgracing us. How dare you spread your blasphemy and smear our names-" Esme interrupted snarling at me.

"Anyway," I continued over the top of Esme, "You need to know Alice Brandon is not who she pretended to be. That's the best place to start. She was actually Mary-Alice Bysshop, Mistress of the South."

Lots of things happened at once.

Carlisle roared his reproach, "You spread LIES!" and stood as Esme came at me with her claws out. Jasper stood to intercede, grabbing her wrists giving her a big dose of 'I-don't-fucking-thinks-so' mojo, she dropped to her knees snarling.

Peter stood to intercept Carlisle going after Jasper for touching Esme.

As Peter stood to help, Char lunged to back Peter. Edward stood as well, to do what I'm not sure.

I remained in my seat. As did Eleazar, who was holding his arm across his mate, restraining her. Carmen was a staring death daggers at me.

As they tried to contain Esme and Carlisle, I looked over at Nevell who was grinning like a fool, Randal who was trying and failing not to snicker and Mac was looking on in amusement.

Esme gained control of herself enough to start throwing out more insults, "You ungrateful bitch! How dare you!" and something about how they all treated me so well. I ignored her, tuning her out as I gritted my teeth as I felt Monstress rise in me.

Don't kill her. Don't kill her. Don't kill her, I chanted over and over until Monstress retreated enough for me to relax a bit.

"Get your hands off my wife!" Carlisle screamed at Jasper over the top of his wife's ranting, "You are a disgrace to this family. Bella and the others have brainwashed you against us! You're drinking human blood, Jasper! You are not in your right mind!" and began to lecture him on his self-control.

Jeez. This was going well. Monstress was rising to defend Jasper's again with his altercations with Carlisle. I stiffened, keeping Monstress held down as best I could. If I stood up I would rip their heads off, and then where would we be? Carlisle needed to shut the fuck up. I knew, as well as Monstress did, Jasper could completely handle the situation without us, I just needed to keep reminding ourselves of that. It was hot to watch him protect us, however. Was it so wrong to be suddenly horny at the display? He didn't even flinch at Carlisle's words. I concentrated on that emotion and Eleazar's seemingly contained state and Monstress backed down the rest of the way.

"Carlisle, shut up." Jasper barked and to my amazement he did. Both Esme and he did.

Eleazar was taking everything in with caution. His eyes never really focused on one thing too long. It was like his attention was on everything and nothing at the same time.

I sat quietly. I knew this was going to get worse before it got better. There was no rush to get agitated and start ripping things off bodies. There was plenty of time for that later. Right now was the time for revealing.

Finally Esme and Carlisle sat down and Jasper moved to stand between our couch and the chairs Carlisle and Esme occupied. Esme still growled lowly with Carlisle consoling her.

Peter and Charlotte retook their seats.

Edward sat down.

I let out a sigh and picked at the frayed edges on top of my thigh-high leather boots as I bounced my leg on my knee.

"Someone needs to explain. Immediately. How is it you believe Alice is the Mistress of the South. Explain." Mr. Dictator took over Eleazar's understated composure. Oh, boy. He stared directly at me. As did his wife and mate.

Looking fully in his eyes I knew this wasn't going to go over well. His face held no emotion, but his eyes gave him away. He was on edge. I dropped a huge bomb he knew nothing about and blindsided him. "I was changed almost 18 years ago. I woke alone. Nevell" I pointed to the dhampir sitting on the kitchen chair against the wall to the left of us, "found me on his way to find the Cullens. He stayed to help me. Over our talks we found some discrepancies in stories we both heard about said Cullen's, and sought Peter and Charlotte Whitlock out to help us." I nodded to the pair next to me, "Combining stories we found even more variances. We teamed together and went south to find answers. I won't get into too much detail, but over the last 10 years we've uncovered Alice's identity among a web of deceit, lies, tales, and debauchery you wouldn't believe. From there it's been an overload of information. Each day brings new light to the fuckery."

"You have proof." It was a request not a question.

"Besides her recorded admittance? Yes, we have witnesses who will testify they are one in the same."

"I must speak to her." He demanded.

"That's going to be a little difficult. She was found guilty of said debauchery this morning and put to death." I admitted.

"They killed our child!" Esme screeched.

"You had no right!" Carlisle said at the same time. "We could do nothing Eleazar!"

Eleazar didn't flinch at the news. My past tense usage of her should have clued him in. He merely wanted confirmation. Carmen's face however was a snarl; lips a tight line and her nostrils flared like she was holding herself back from taking a bite out of someone. I hoped it wasn't me. I would imagine Eleazar's death grip on her leg was the only thing keeping her seated.

"You have the recorded admittance?" Eleazar finally asked.

"Yes, and before we show you, I need to explain some things you are about to see for yourself." He arched a brow in question. "We asked you here alone today for a reason. The tape makes references to Alice trying to kill me twice when I was still human. She sent vampires to do the deed for her. After the first one did not succeed and was killed she sent a second one. You are familiar with the wolves?" he nodded sharply once, "In protecting me and their people, they lost 3 to the second vampire and her newborns Alice orchestrated."

"You will be punished for your lies," Esme growled, "Alice would never do such a thing! Why are you doing this? Why have you-" She continued to rant at me until Jasper quieted her once again with some more mojo.

"You are familiar with James, Victoria and Laurent, yes? I believe Laurent was Irina's mate, if my understanding is correct?" I continued before Esme could find her wits again.

"Yes, but I do not see the point-" Eleazar started.

"Alice was sire to all three." Right to the point.

The slight widening of his eyes was the only response he gave.

"You can see the predicament this puts me in. I'm still close with the wolves. Laurent was the first one Alice sent to kill me, the wolves intercepted and killed him first." Carmen gasped, "When Victoria showed up with her newborns they were quickly killed and she was captured. She spilled about Alice being behind it all. At the time, I was still human; I didn't pay attention to most of it or care what it implied. I was devastated at the news Alice would do such a thing. There was other stuff she rambled about, that didn't make sense at the time either. Later after I was changed and met Nevell, I recalled the incident eventually. That's where we began to fit things together."

"LIAR!" Esme tried to rise again. Jasper stepped forward but Esme stopped struggling against his gift and slumped back. But that didn't shut her mouth, "You are telling lies! How could you do this! Alice loved you!"

"Bella, you have no proof of this! We loved you as a daughter, Alice loved you, and you repay us this way? What have you done?" Carlisle gave me a menacing reproachful look as he lectured me on their devotion. He was a little to calm for my taste. I was surprised they weren't out of their chairs by now screaming. I was bracing myself I realized for their true attack.

"Both of you are delusional. How many times do you need to be told we have proof? " I hissed, "And Carlisle? Really? You all loved me so much you left me. Don't tell me you didn't know Alice was maneuvering all of us. You knew she wasn't Jasper mate. You had to know." I glared at him until he too sat back.

"We knew Alice loved Jasper very much! She was completely devoted to him!" Esme lectured.

"Yes, I know, I heard you earlier say she was so obsessed with him she missed this happening to you." I reminded them.

"I said no such thing!" Carlisle bellowed. Fucking liar.

"You are an ungrateful little brat you have no respect for your elders! After everything we gave you-" Esme scolded me. Fucking scolded me. She was off her rocker with the mood swings.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled.

"Don't speak to them in that manner." Carmen growled.

"I'm not going to argue anymore about it. You can see it for yourself." I bit. Enough of this shit was enough. "Mac, will you please?" I motioned to him, "I just wanted to warn you all before you watched the video." I told them. A little show and tell never hurt anyone, right? Ok, well maybe in this case… besides, maybe it would shut them up.

Mac moved from his dinning room chair, pulling it out from in front of the plasma TV, and hit play on the laptop he'd hooked the TV to.

We watched, for some of us the third or maybe the tenth time, Jasper talk to Alice. I watched Eleazar out of the corner of my eye become entranced by the display.

We all listened to Jasper weave his magic around Alice making her believe Maria was a part of her capture, making her believe we knew more than we did about Carlisle and Edward. We watched her spill secrets about her involvement, Carlisle's involvement.

Eleazar and Carmen never took their eyes off the screen.

Mac stopped the recording after Alice was knocked out and looked to me; I glanced at Eleazar and Carmen, who had yet to take their eyes off the now black screen, I motioned for Mac to show them the rest. What the hell, right?

When Mac hit play again we saw Jasper re-enter the room. Esme began crying at our antics with Alice, whispering in a low growl what cruel people we all are. Everyone ignored them. Carlisle sat rigidly, eyes wide, watching with the rest of us while patting his wife leg consoling her.

The audio on TV played Edward's commentary in the background as he sifted through Alice's mind.

"Oh, Edward. How could you!" Esme wailed. I was about to tie her mouth shut.

After Alice was knocked out for the second time, we listened to Edward, Jasper and I talk in the background as the camera stayed on the once again motionless Alice.

"_Honestly, it's possible they don't, but highly unlikely. I think it's more they just told Carlisle that to hold it over his head. To blackmail him._" My voice on screen filled the room as the conversation ended there and the TV went blank, I turned fully to Eleazar, but he was turned now staring at Carlisle.

"It's not true. You can see she was under duress." Carlisle defended as he motioned harshly to the TV, "She is being tortured. Surely, Eleazar, you do not believe this. It is untrue I assure you. These people have kidnapped-"

"Well, we have more." I lifted my chin to Mac and he smirked, hitting play again cutting off Carlisle and Esme's protests. They wanted to argue? Let's watch them see themselves on the screen in perfect shape, spill the beans on themselves.

We all turned back to the show as this time the picture came up displaying Carlisle and Esme awaiting Edward's arrival. Carlisle jumped up immediately.

"What is the meaning of this! You can't expect us to sit here and let you-"

"SIT. DOWN." Eleazar's voiced boomed.

"But you must know-" Carlisle hissed as he shot a scathing glare at me.

"SIT. NOW." Eleazar repeated.

Carlisle's defiance was met with a steely gaze from Eleazar and Carmen both. He sat. Woof, Woof Carlisle. Monstress gave me a good snort for that one. She didn't particularly like dogs or Carlisle.

Turning back to the screen Mac had paused, Eleazar simply stated, "Please."

The TV once again set into motion the confessions of Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle Cullen.

Eleazar turned to me after Carlisle voiced his death threat on Edward on camera. "Do you have more?"

"The last clip we have is of Alice early this morning." I started. -".

"Show me, now," he demanded. He didn't want to talk until all was revealed? Fine by me. Saved the humans some air by us not having to talk and tell him.

So Mac queued the video.

I noticed Carmen was no longer giving me evil stares, and refused altogether to look at Carlisle and Esme.

We watched the clip as all of us gathered and went through the ceremony we attended this morning. I didn't know the reaction I was expecting, but it wasn't quite what I thought it would be.

Tensions filled the room as the scene unfolded; the air was thick with it. When Edward spoke, denouncing himself from Carlisle on screen, all hell broke loose yet again in the room.

It was Eleazar who made the move this time, much to my surprise.

Eleazar was up and out of his spot holding Carlisle to the wall faster than I'd ever seen any one move before. Carmen stood over Esme grabbing her by the arm hauling her up out of her chair.

"Carmen!" Esme uttered shocked.

"No." Carmen told her. That one word shut her up. Where the hell was Carmen when we were tying to make Esme be quiet earlier?

"I let you into my Line. I trusted you. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Eleazar hissed into Carlisle's face.

"I…Eleazar… please let me explain… we can talk this through, we can work this out." Carlisle stammered.

"Is it true?" Eleazar demanded coldly.

"Please, Eleazar." Carlisle pleaded. "There is no need for violence."

"Yes, or no." He emphasized each word by banging Carlisle's head into the wall, breaking the drywall.

Carlisle choked out, "Eleazar, you must understan-." And he was swiftly thrown across the room. He crashed into the wall and kept going. He came to a stop as he hit the kitchen floor in a heap of tangled limbs.

"Eleazar!" Esme screamed! "Carlisle!" she made to get out of Carmen's grasp, but Carmen held fast.

"You have no right to beg. You have no right to speak to me. You know the Volturi and I do not get along, there is very bad blood between us. You brought that devil into my home knowingly! You come to me to hide and… I have no idea what you have been doing. You are a traitor. You have violated your own people for god's sake! You have used them for your own gain! For you sick twisted… You have betrayed me with having brought that devil into my home! Did you know who she was! Do you have any idea what that devil was capable of?"

"No!" Carlisle yelled. "You don't understand! She saved me-"

"No? NO? I understand more than you think Carlisle. You are nothing to me, any longer! I do not know the man who stands before me begging for his life. I do not know the man nor the woman you call your mate. All this time I have trusted you; have protected you within my line from the very people your consort with and bring into my HOME! I have harbored a criminal of the worst kind! You have the audacity to put blame to others as you continue your insanity behind closed doors."

He turned to Esme. "Do you have this gift? Why can't I tell you are gifted?"

"I don't have a gift." She spoke petulantly.

"Don't LIE. TO. ME! How do you hide your gift from me?" Eleazar's restrained rage was quickly giving out.

"I don't know." She admitted snottily.

"Tell me how does it work? Tell me what you have been doing? You detect these people could be gifted, how?" He demanded.

Esme stood defiantly, lips pressed in a hard line. Carmen's hand, still wrapped around her upper arm, shook Esme when it looked like she wasn't going to answer. "I don't know what you're talking about." Esme finally forced out between clenched teeth.

Eleazar took her in from head to toe, "Tell me. No games. You tell me now or I'll kill you right without further thought."

"El-" Carlisle shrieked.

"Shut up Carlisle. You will have your chance to speak, I am speaking to your mate." facing Esme he repeated his inquiry.

"I don't know how. I just see they could be something. They… they shine more than others." She stuttered, and her voice held defiance.

"Shine?" Eleazar scoffed.

"Like an aura?" Carmen asked her.

Esme turned to her pleadingly, "Please, Carmen, we have been-"

"LIKE an aura?" she repeated through grinding teeth.

"Yes," Esme snapped seeming to realize Carmen no longer wished her friendship nor was going to tolerate her sudden multi-personality disorder.

"This is most troubling. The entire situation." Turning back to me Eleazar took my measure again seemingly with new eyes. "You had no right to kill Alice." Ah negotiation time. Yeah, me.

I finally stood. I wasn't sure why I was feeling so confident all of a sudden. Maybe because we had one of the largest leaders before us, unarmed, unguarded, alone with his mate, and the place was surrounded by our sentry. Possible. Or maybe it was just because I could feel closure coming. Finally putting all this shit to rest. In a few days if Eleazar decided to send a hit man to kill me, I probably wouldn't be so smug, but for right now, I was almost, dare I say, fucking giddy. Eleazar was reacting how we hoped. How Peter predicted.

Jasper came to my side as I stood fully, "We all killed Alice."

Eleazar's eyes narrowed quickly at Jasper and I hissed. Speaking carefully I answered, "Killing Alice was our right. Jasper's stand in her Line gave him that right. All the other reasons behind it make no difference, it just served to back us for what we did."

"Knowing what you know, you should have brought her before me. You should have come to me long before now." Eleazar spoke sharply.

"I am not in your Line. Neither is Jasper. Hell the only one truly in your Line here is Carmen. As for not coming sooner, we could not. As you well know from watching the video, there's a lot more at stake here than who got to kill Alice." I said, trying not to escalate his will placed wrath. I gritted my teeth reminding Monstress and myself this was a huge blow to him.

"There were many things we wanted to do, but our hands were tied. In a perfect world, we would have come to you and made everything right from the beginning. But that's not the case. Nothing here is that simple or uncomplicated. We have the wolves to consider. There's Maria to consider, just as we have Heidi and the Volturi. Those are all still dangers we face now, we're just prepared now, unlike before. "

"Ah, yes. So it would seem." He took a large breath releasing it as he studied me a minute more and turned to Carlisle who was now standing before the hole in the wall with his hands fisted staring at Eleazar trying, it seemed, to light him on fire.

"What must your sire think of you?" Eleazar asked him and Edward let out a snarly scream staring at Carlisle wide eyed.

What the fuck?

"STAY OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!" Carlisle bellowed at Edward.

"You.. you." Edward tried to speak. Eleazar's question prompted something deep and dark in Carlisle. His face morphed into something sinister and looked every part of a vampire.

Edward's mouth hung open and he was trying to form words, Carlisle beat him to the punch "Don't speak of it! Don't you fucking _dare_!" He screamed. But I wasn't sure who he was talking to, Edward who sifted his thoughts or Eleazar who was now smiling sardonically.

Eleazar let out a harsh laugh. "I am surprised in all this time, he never slipped in front of you." addressing Edward first, "It is the darkest of the dark for Carlisle. He does not speak of it, ever." Turning once again to a panting and crazy looking Carlisle he asked, "Would you like to enlighten everyone Carlisle, or shall I?"

"Eleazar, please. I beg of you, I will do anything-" Carlisle bargained.

"I believe you already proved that. The gloves are off. It would seem nothing is sacred to you, so be it for me to harbor anything sacred for you. Am I to assume I am the only one to know this deepest darkest secret of yours?" Eleazar's voice now held little compassion yet there was sadness in his eyes as he looked at his old friend.

Carlisle choked and fell to his knees realizing Eleazar held every intention of telling everyone.

"Did Alice know?" Eleazar asked.

Carlisle shook his head as he bent over at the waist praying to the floor clutching his chest, rocking up and down.

"Would you care to enlighten us," Jasper's voice was tight with tension, whatever was coming off Carlisle now seemed to make Jasper stiffen from its potency. Jasper didn't seem too inclined to help Carlisle's suffering any. I would imagine Jasper felt as I did. If what Carlisle had already done wasn't bad enough, this must be worse. Much worse.

Carlisle hissed and snarled, but never relented his posture.

"Ah, yes. You see." Eleazar addressed us, "You all know the story of Carlisle's creation into our world? His father was quite radical in the church, killing those of us they could. As his father became older and ailing he became more brazen in his crusade. He formed a large following and many believers in his endeavors; however, mostly they burned innocent people at the stake. His father passed onto Carlisle, the reigns he could no longer seize when it became obvious his health was getting in the way. Carlisle took those reigns from him with pride. But what many do not know is that his father did not die, or suffer an unknown illness. No, he did not, did he Carlisle?" Eleazar turned back to Carlisle and his face actually held deep sympathy.

Of Eleazar's carefully spoken words, two of them stood out more than the rest; my instincts led me to the conclusion where this was going. I was spinning.

"His father fell into the hands of those he was desperately trying to rid the world of. But they did not kill him, did they Carlisle." Eleazar spoke over my inner epiphany.

"They murdered him!" Carlisle seethed.

"Ah, you're definition of murder is far different than mine." He turned back to us, "The old pastor was so obsessed with his pilgrimage the vampire world took notice. His father was changed by one of the vampires lay hidden in wait one night to ambush the old man and his minions. Anticipating the old pastor's presence it was easy pickin's for these vampires. Carlisle was much better at evading than his father ever was."

We'd had a few questions left… a few unanswered simple questions. One of those; who Carlisle's sire was. This was not a simple answer.

"How dare you!" Carlisle roared as he lifted his head to glare at Eleazar.

"I warned you Carlisle. I understood your reasons behind your research, and your obsessions with trying to find a 'cure', but I warned you coming to me that it was with stipulations and rules. If you disobeyed you would bare the consequences. I've overlooked many things over the years. Many discrepancies I would not allow from others. But this I cannot let go. Not this time. You have made a fool out of me by my leniency to allow you your preaching and your pretending in the human world. I will no longer allow it. They will know why you are as you are."

"Your father sired you." I breathed, staring at Carlisle.

Carlisle wept, his sobs wracking his body as he lowered his head once more in defeat.

Jasper looked to Eleazar "Is his sire… his father still alive?"

"No. The old man was senile when he was changed. The change was too much for him. They left him in his own bed to go through the change in his own home as a warning to the other vampire hunters. I believe they picked the old pastor on purpose to prove their superiority. You can imagine what the result was to the ones gathered unknowingly at his bedside. The first victims were clergy residing in the house and others there to help exercise the demons from the pastor as he went through the change. The pastor's doings although radical, held the devotion of the church. When his father-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." Carlisle screamed.

Fuuuuuuuck me.

"Carlisle got out of the house in time to avoid being the next victim as his father massacred them all. His father escaped into the streets afterwards leaving behind such carnage they burned the house down.

Carlisle knew his father would be devastated at being turned into the very thing he despised most. He set out to help him, searching for him endlessly.

Carlisle was very diligent at keeping the villagers at bay, they no longer killed innocents and he was not so quick as his father to accuse. But when it came to be suspected what truly happened to the pastor, Carlisle had no choice. His father was riddled with so many demons that there was no help for him when Carlisle and the others finally found him. The bloodlust controlled the old man. In the end, Carlisle's hesitation to not kill his own father led him to fall victim to him instead. When Carlisle woke up, he sought his now crazed father on equal ground, determined even more to help him. Both of them were crazy with the newborn lust. Carlisle himself destroyed his father when his father attacked him, rather than accepting help from him. One of the many reasons Carlisle tried to kill himself so many times, and does not believe in drinking from humans."

"You bastard." Carlisle wept.

"Ah yes, I am. I have no illusions, Carlisle, about what I am, however. I do not pretend to be human. I do not dance with the devil and walk among humans pretending to be one of them. You have never embraced nor accepted your fate. Your guilt rides you as the demons did your father. Your desire to change yourself back into human or to make yourself more human in the eyes of the world has clouded your mind and made you very sick. Blinded your judgment so much you would not see what is right in front of you, or the possibilities it gives you. I told you long ago if you did not come to terms, it would be detrimental. I told you what would happen if you came here and continued your behavior."

"No, no no no no! Please!" Esme pleaded.

"No. I may be as much a fool as you in some ways Carlisle, but I do not make the same mistake twice." Eleazar turned to us, "You are sure of this, Carlisle is the one sending vampire and humans alike to these places? He is the true creator of the dhampirs? You have proof other than the video?"

"I know it's true. I was there." Nevell announced stepping forward.

Nevell had kept his mouth shut for so long. I was always awed by the calm presence he carried himself with. He'd survived and been through such horrific situations. The first introduction to this world was harsh and bitter on his tongue. He grew up around death and destruction and came out the other side with his sanity and the will and motivation to care for and help others. He'd been so careful around Carlisle, these past days. Never once giving any indication who he was.

He'd stood before his creator and communicated with him as any normal person would with another. He answered Carlisle's questions without a flutter of a lash. He carried his rage silently, funneling it into good instead of evil. Carlisle could have learned a thing or two from him.

"How is it possible you were there?" Eleazar asked.

"I was one of the first to be created by Carlisle. He was the first person I saw when I was born… trying to save my mother I just killed by tearing, unknowing, through her." Nevell's voice filled with passion as he spoke of his mother.

"WHAT!" Carlisle screeched completely appalled at the revelation.

"Oh yes, I watched as you tried to save her. It's been the only thing saving your life all these bloody years. The one single act to try to save her from death, saved yours, the past few days." Nevell said gravely.

"But, you… I … I … you were…" Carlisle stammered, stuttered, and reeled back.

"I was born by your hand. It's a precarious place to bloody be in. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, in the same breath, by your creation of me, you have killed thousands. Not to mention running away and sending those butchers more to mutilate."

"I haven't killed anyone!" Carlisle had the nerve to look disgruntled.

"You left. You left your work instead of finishing what you started. You left Huilen in your stead, leaving him alive to do whatever he pleased. You should have killed him. You are a coward. Do you fecking know, they never once tried to save the woman who gave birth to my kind? Not once, until I convinced them there was another way. Not once in the many, many years did anyone put in any effort to protect the hundreds of woman who were unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of those mad men. They made and then destroyed countless more human men after they used them for their own means."

"That's not possible!" Carlisle denied disbelievingly.

"Oh, but it is. You left us there to defend ourselves. What do you think they were going to do with us once we had no protection? You took your research with you! The only thing they knew was it was _possible_, but nothing to go by to accomplish it. They turned on us, the ones you created, to find the answers. After you left, only 3 of the 7 survived before they were done poking, prodding and cuttin' us.

You and Huilen kept your research close at hand. Letting no one know what you were truly doing, or how you were doing it. You left and soon after Huilen took with him the scientists that were worth a damn."

"He was supposed to leave! Hei… Heidi said he would leave. She would take care of the dhampirs. Hide them… you… from the Volturi! It's not my fault-" Carlisle defended.

"Not your fault you are a coward? Is that your father's fault as well?" Nevell dug at him.

"How _dare_ you!" Carlisle's demeanor changed in a flash from irritated to rage, at the mention of his father.

"You left us defenseless against a madman! You were the only one who ever stuck up to Huilen. The only one who kept him at bay. You never thought about what would happen once you left? And if he left what would become of us?" Nevell asked firing back just as passionately. His heart rate actually accelerated.

"Heidi-" Carlisle fisted his hands, his body began to coil.

"Yes, bloody Heidi, there's a right ol' gal. She came back you know. She came back and instructed the other scientists to _continue_. When they told her they didn't know how, she was enraged. She thought you were teaching the others. Somehow she got the impression your set up included everyone. But that wasn't the case was it? Because we all know now Alice couldn't have told her once the dhampirs were born what was truly goin' to happen. She couldn't bloody fecking see us!" Nevell's voice rose as he pointedly blamed Carlisle for all of it.

"She said if I took my research with me that no one would continue! They could not continue! The Volturi must not know what I created!" Carlisle yelled back.

"I figure that's about right. She and Alice didn't want the Volturi to know at the time, so they could use you for their own means. I'm not sure the Volturi know now. They definitely didn't want _you_ to think the Volturi knew. It was the first step in isolating and controlling you. And you let them willingly." Nevell didn't let him get away with shit.

"They know now." Carlisle said bitterly.

"How do you know that?" Jasper asked.

"I talk to Aro." Carlisle breathed and flinched at the admittance.

"Are you sure about that? When's the last time you actually saw Aro or any of the brothers?" Peter asked.

"Why would that matter? I talk to him on the phone all the time." Carlisle said incredulously.

"Do you?" Nevell asked.

"Yes, of course." Carlisle said snottily, his mood swings were a joy ride as much as Esme's were.

"I doubt that. You think they would take it so easy on you if they really knew? Let you live in Eleazar's line knowing the things you know? Having done the things you've done?" Nevell said disbelievingly.

"Alice said they could help… they wanted to continue what they thought Huilen created. If I didn't help they would come for us…" Carlisle trailed off.

"How long have you been sending them people?" Jasper snarled. "How did they contact you?"

Carlisle huffed, "Alice got word from them. Her visions showed them coming for us and if we worked with them they would leave us alone. I wanted to… I couldn't do what I wanted anymore… this way I could…I was doing research with no test subjects… I was too afraid of being caught; Alice came to me and said if I changed Edward, he would help to protect the family I was going to someday have. He would be able to hear if anyone was suspicious. He would be able to read my mind so to hide my deeper thoughts around him- "

"You used me!" Edward stormed at him. "And Rosalie!"

"Yes about this, Carlisle," Eleazar joined in, "Tell us, what became of your research with your family? Are we to believe there is a dhampir out there wondering around looking like Edward and Rose-"

"NO." Carlisle ground his teeth, "the female I implanted did not survive." He sounded more upset it wasn't successful rather than at what he had done.

"He's telling the truth." Edward spit. "She died not long after being…" he couldn't finish as he choked back venom.

"It should have worked." Carlisle mumbled looking at his opened hands in his lap, "I didn't have the right facilities and tools. It should have worked. I went slower this time.. I didn't have someone over my back-" he shook his head in wonder that he wasn't successful. Fucking moron.

"So you bargained through Alice with the Volturi to start sending people to them, when?" Jasper concluded, switching back to the original.

"Not until after Esme was changed." Carlisle said stiffly. "Alice told me Edward wouldn't understand if we told him. It was to be kept secret. To never think of it. He didn't act as he was supposed to when he woke up. He would be a great watch dog, however so we kept him." I think the entire room sans Carlisle and Esme snarled at him.

"Wasn't it enough to know what you already left behind and what happened the first time to not do it again?" Carmen growled incredulously. Her little body coiled up as she stared menacingly at Carlisle while shaking Esme.

"I didn't know! Heidi said they would be fine! This time would be different. We had years to plan! We were so careful! Alice said it was fine. We were sending them with my research to be…. Well… we're so close… Alice says-" Carlisle roared watching Carmen carefully as she shook Esme.

"Ya bloody wanker!" Nevell's voice finally rose. " Ya' fecking don't make sense. Nothin' comin' from your mouth makes a dame bit a sense! Ya talk in circles expectin' no one to catch the filthy lies that lay underneath ya. Ya left us for dead, ya bum nugget!" His English accent, which only appeared on a handful of occasions, made itself known fully, "Never given' a damn about what ya left fer dead. Never checkin' on us. To make it worse, ya' still sending bloody people never knowing what's happenin' to them!"

"I was told you would be-" Carlisle shot back.

"Takin' care of. I aint feckin' deaf ya bloody sak. I heard ya loud and fecking clear. In tha back o' my mind I hoped ya' woulda' kept tabs on us. Ya' didn't give a bloody hell about us. Ya' called us half-breeds! Ya' left us in that madman's hands. Never once looked back. Never once. But to find out ya' been sendin' more! Ya' make me feckin' sick!" Nevell screamed.

"I-" Carlisle stuttered.

"Fuck off ya bastard. I will give ya' one thin' you're good at pretendin' to be somethin' you're not. I hope your arse lights on fire soon. I'll be dancing on your pyre you can count on that." Nevell lowered his voice and snarled his threat to his creator.

Carlisle's eyes were wild as he jumped up and stepped forward, but Edward stepped in front of Nevell then. "If you want to attack him you'll have to go through me first. I can read your mind old man. Get a grip on yourself. You're loosing it." he warned his sire.

My eyebrows shot into my forehead as I stared at the display.

Huh.

"You are a disappointment." Carlisle growled as he stared at Edward.

"Don't put your daddy issues on me." Edward gritted.

"We just all need to calm down and talk about this calmly. I'm sure we can come to an understanding." Esme said falling back to her Stepford wife persona. We all turned to stare at her. She stood looking regally back at us like we were all going to share some cookies and milk and suddenly everything was going to be right in her world.

I snickered. Fuck this was getting crazier by the second. How did no one see how fucked these two were? Are.

"You're thoughts are scattered everywhere Carlisle, you need to calm down. You're not attacking anyone here today. Back. Down." Edward told him patiently still guarding Nevell. I turned and shared an amused look with Nevell for a brief second before I glanced to Carlisle. His face was completely dark and looking dangerously close to psychotic as his eyes darted between all of us.

"Fucking get out of my head! You ungrateful… I have given you everything!" he screamed at Edward as his eyes once again settled on him and Nevell. "None of you understand! I have done these things for you all! I have spent decades, nah, centuries researching and this is how you all repay me! How you treat my wife and I?"

"Everything? You changed me against my will, violated me before I woke, changed another innocent woman who'd just been brutally raped, tried to make a child with her by using my seed, let the she-devil blackmail me, let her move into live with us to control us. Let her control Jasper making him think she was his mate. Fuck we've been over this! You and your wife… ungrateful? Un-fucking-grateful? You are sad, Carlisle. Truly sick. You-" Carlisle swung at Edward and actually connected. That would put into mind just how scattered Carlisle's mind was if Edward missed that coming. Edward's head recoiled with the blow as granite connected with steel.

Nevell quickly grabbed and wrangled with Edward, keeping him from hitting Carlisle back.

Carlisle jumped back just as quickly and raised his hands in the air as if he didn't want a fight.

"You would attack me Edward?" Carlisle asked innocently. The man was loosing his marbles.

"You are crazy!" Edward yelled and snarled at him. Nevell wrapped his arms around Edward's body, holding his arms down to hold him as Edward lunged again. "Get a grip, Carlisle!"

"ENOUGH!" Eleazar stormed. Turning quickly to Jasper "If you would please, with your help, we will be taking Carlisle and-Esme bac-"

"Over my dead body!" Esme screamed and lunged for Eleazar. Carmen jerked Esme back with the hold she had on Esme's neck and arm.

"That can be arranged." Carmen hissed. I think I like this woman.

Carlisle went at Carmen then with a banshee scream, Eleazar beat him of course, and taking the momentum of the attack they went through the glass wall behind us, tumbling outside. Eleazar grappled with and finally held Carlisle to the deck by the throat.

"What are you thinking Carlisle? I let you into my line, gave you a chance for redemption, and how do you repay me? You will pay for your misdoings! You are traitor. You are betrayer! You end here. I've had enough of this charade. You have gone mad Carlisle! Carmen!"

She threw him a lighter, he caught it and held it to Carlisle's face, "You did these things." Oh shit.

"NO, Please-!" Esme screamed and swung around attacking Carmen. Carmen wasn't having it and her hold on her neck was joined with her other hand as she ripped Esme's head off.

OH fuck. Monstress growled and I reached forward grabbing Jasper's arm. I chanced a look at Jasper; he was looking back at me, his face in grim lines. We couldn't stop this. Did we really want to anyway? His face told me no to both. It was out of our hands.

Edward lunged as Carmen lugged Esme's body to the broken window, but Nevell held him back. "Let them deal with this. We will not interfere." Edward gave him a wild look.

"But-"

Jasper shook his head then speaking lowly at the same time Carlisle was screaming, "He's right, we can not interfere." Edward growled, but backed down.

"NOOOOOO!" Carlisle was still screaming, "I will kill you all! You have no right! We are so close! We will all be forgiven!" struggling under Eleazar to get to Carmen and Esme.

Eleazar seemed unfazed by Carlisle as he continued his speech as his mate joined him on the deck, "I saw on the tape, you have committed great crimes against our own kind. I told you in the beginning Carlisle, I would not tolerate lies and deceit! I would not tolerate such behavior from you. Not here. You were here on good faith you would never do such things again! Look at what you have done! I will ask you again, Did you do these things, yes or no."

Nevell's heart was racing as we waited for Carlisle's answer.

Carlisle panted staring terrifyingly to his mate and back again to his captor. Finally he screamed, "Yes, and I would do it all over again!" And that was the last words Dr. Carlisle Cullen spoke before his head was removed.

Quite frankly I was a little shocked at the events. Forgoing any council meeting was out. Further questioning didn't seem to be in the cards. Taking them before the Volturi and Heidi to make them accountable was a no go.

I was elated. Shocked, but elated. Monstress purred.

Within seconds Carlisle was in pieces along with a torn up Esme as Carmen finished taking her a part. In no time Eleazar and Carmen were lighting the pyre in the middle of the small yard.

The rest of our entourage slowly gathered in stunned silence as Eleazar and Carmen stood hand in hand watching.

We stepped forward and for the second time today witnessed fire burn and consume vampire flesh. I ever so slightly nudged Jasper and sent him curiosity he answered with showing me Eleazar and Carmen's raging emotions.

Pure rage. Whoa.

No regret whatsoever.

"And so put to rest my friend. May you find peace in death. May the afterlife forgive you your sins and give you both what you so desire. Rest now." Eleazar whispered into the hazy smoke.

No one spoke again as the flames engulfed and rose above us. I glanced at Nevell. He stared into the blue flame as well as Edward did next to him. Edward made some kind of keening sound and took off. Nevell sighed looking after him, turning to me, he nodded his head then sprinted after Edward. They could grieve together. I couldn't do anything for either one of them. The emotions swirled in us and around all of us. Jasper put his arm around my waist and drew me too him. As he did, his touch gave me a glimpse of his turmoiled emotions as well.

The flames danced in the evening sun. I found it ironic that within a day the walls fell around 3 of the Cullens and they were ash amongst us.

It was the end of an era.

The smell of vampire incense filled the air and swirled around us once again. I became hypnotized by the smoke's entrancing dance as it rose in the evening currents. It swayed and dipped stopping completely before twirling and diving in another direction. It curled its long fingers around us invitingly as it ascended and dissipated into the last heat of the day. Going were we couldn't follow.

As the fire quieted and turned to embers I let out a huge breath. I let the tensions I didn't realize were there dissipate. What was done was done. I turned my head and breathed my mate's essence into my body, calming me further.

Peter stepped forward then, "I would like to ask, what are you to do with their ashes?"

Eleazar raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Well, see, we would like to have them. At least part of them, if you would allow us, we would use them in the our quest for justice and peace." I held in my chuckle. I got so used to Peter being such a smart ass constantly I rarely laughed at him, but when he acted like this? Completely posed and dare I say trying to be dignified and respectful? I truly found it humorous, because I say dignified with wide birth. I wasn't the only one as Jasper shot me a quick emotional humour of his own.

Peter was Eddie Haskell all the way.

It seemed to take the edge off what just occurred however. Put all our focus on other matters. Later if you asked him, Peter would tell you he did it on purpose to accomplish just that.

"I'm not sure how you could use them," there was dose of amusement in Eleazar's rigid voice, "If you could explain."

"We have a woman who can turn them into good use. We make knives usin' the ash and mix it with steel and other components. While we question vampires and the like, we can tie vamp-ash bindings to 'em, restrainin' 'em. Like you saw Alice. We've made a whole mess 'a things with 'em." Peter explained.

"That's … disturbing…" Carmen whispered.

For the next 6 minutes and 32 seconds, Peter explained to them what the process was and how we came about it. He told them all the tools and some of things we re-enforced with them. It brought all our minds to ease and the tensions to slowly dissolve, as we listened to Peter's southern drawl lull us.

"I see. And you feel it would serve well for Carlisle and Esme's ashes to help in this capacity." Eleazar stated as he measured us. I was kinda getting tired of that. It was amusing the first time… maybe even the second, but it seemed to be habit with him. I'm sure there was a reason for it, but to me it was downright rude. I guess it was suppose to intimidate but I wasn't. I wanted to slap him.

"I will give you the ashes in exchange for one of these weapons as good faith. I would find it an interesting conversation piece when we have guests. I do not wish to have these particular ashes per say. Any would do. A sword, of which you speak, would be lovely." Lovely indeed. And they thought us morbid.

"Now, tell me of these games spoken of. The labs. I must know everything. I am not happy you have not come to me before about this subject." Eleazar continued.

"We couldn't come to you. The threat to us and the wolves was and still is a huge concern for us." I said.

"Ah, yes. Irina. I can see where that would concern you. I can imagine…." He seemed to trail off into thought as he looked at each one of us. When he spoke again, his voice held understanding, "Yes. Your plates are full. The Cullen's, Maria, Heidi, and the Volturi… us. You're cards have been stacked against you. Now that the Cullens are gone, I should be actually thanking you. I was fool where Carlisle was concerned. I believed he was repentant for his sins against us, and was at terms with his past."

"If I may ask," Jasper spoke, "How much of this did you know about?"

"I knew he was the suspected creator of dhampirs from the very beginning, not only from the rumor mill, but also from Carlisle himself. It is not a well-hidden secret they exist. I also knew of the creation of ghouls by Vladimir. You can imagine my caution when I boarded the helicopter and the pilot was such a being. In all my years, he was the first I ever encountered. We stay pretty tucked away in Alaska. You all gave us quite a scare. I half expected to see Vladimir himself when we entered the house. I knew by the time we got here, however, it would have something, unfortunately, to do with Carlisle's past activities. Not in my wildest imagination did I think he was still working for the Volturi. Or what he thought was the Volturi. It does not matter, I will not tolerate such behavior." there was warning in his voice, "I suspect we will find he was truly only working for Heidi as hinted at earlier. The Volturi would not have been so lenient on him if they were truly involved. I could be wrong. I was wrong about this situation.

Which is another concern. Heidi being involved… the Volturi Brothers…" He sighed. "I imagine I must prepare for those consequences. I believe any information you can give me would be most useful. I let my instincts and rage rule my mind and have destroyed our source," He acknowledged as he stared into the embers. "Please is there somewhere we can talk at length. I would like to be informed of these matters."

"Actually, you should know, we are not too far from here. As discussed between us on the way up, you will find out sooner or later we are encroaching on your territory, and would like to solve this issue if possible. We're stationed a little over 550 miles south of here." I was slightly nervous about his reaction. I needn't have worried, as Eleazar merely tipped back head and laughed. That confused me.

"I have heard of you. You live in the valley with the river! The tree dwellers!" He seemed completely amused.

"Uh, I guess so. Yes?" I spoke hesitantly, glancing quickly to Jasper and the others.

"You are quite welcome to stay." I jerked shocked. Really? Was he fucking with me?

"You're going to let us stay? Just like that?" I said incredulously. "At what price?" as Jasper and Peter eyed him with years of expertise trying to see what the catch was.

"Ah, child, your short years have made you quite paranoid," Eleazar smiled at me and Peter guffawed to which I flipped him off, "oh, there is nothing to be ashamed of. With what I can imagine your few years have shown you, I do not blame you. I wish nothing in return but an alliance. We can discuss it later when other matters are taken care of. But know this, I may be old, and sometimes a fool, but I am not stupid. I have lived several millennia and in that time have learned a few things.

I see before me the makings of a new world. A new path setting before us changing and revolutionizing our world as we know. For humans as well, I imagine, within the several hundred years. Don't think I will not be looking into the going's on of your business, but you will all need a place to call home when it is all said and done. You may stay for as long as needed. It is the least I can do to share land I do not use. I would imagine you have plans for your line, Jasper?"

"We're working on it." he looked at me and winked. "Nothin' is set in stone except I won't be leadin' the troops by myself. I've little part in this until a few days ago, and like I imagin' you are, I'm still digestin' most of it. Izzy, Peter, Char, Nevell, and Benjamin and I have a lot to discuss before we move forward announcing ourselves. You are very gracious to be giving us freedom in your territory."

"Just don't come after me, I think I'm with Izzy on the paranoid front. I do expect some knowledge in return. I wish to know what you know. As long as you are upfront and honest with me, I will return the favor. Speaking of such, do you have a game plan about the Volturi? I will be making inquiries myself on this front as well. Heidi is well connected even if she acted alone, but I would imagine the Brothers have had a say in this in some form or other. Before I make a decision on how I will approach this, tell me your steps from here."

My brain was trying to catch up with the normal conversation as we conversed over Carlisle and Esme's ashes. This seemed too easy. On the other hand… I didn't have any instincts screaming at me I should be running for my life.

"That gets complicated. We would like to tie the Volturi somehow to these labs first if possible, before we make a move toward them. Sources have given us places to search. The tournaments are also a concern for us… and training facilities."

"I have people too, I will be digging into this covertly. I will put one of the girls on it. Kate is excellent at getting others to talk. We will do our own digging in the next few days, weeks, and see what we can find. I have never heard of such goings on in this region. Yet, I have not heard of Carlisle and Esme's… ahhhhh" he sighed looking bewildered and contrite. "When Carlisle first came to me, I knew of his past doings. I knew the rumors. He assured me he was forced into it. I have known him for a long time, you would think in that time I would have gotten a hint of his true nature, of his continued unrest. It is most puzzling to me. We talked at length about his father and what happened. His insistence to be a part of the human world was always a concern. I found it troubling at times, but I truly felt he was finally finding a place in our world without letting his past hang onto him. I will miss him."

"We all over-looked signs I'm sure were there. Comments he made in passing we took to pass instead of to heart. Carlisle's penchant for conversation and to theorize I believe overshadowed his true outlook. What we took for theory is actual truth." Jasper said.

"I do admit I often wondered if his penchant for redemption in his father's eyes still drove him, but he always reassured me. Esme being gifted and never detecting it does give me pause."

That gave Peter sign he should launch into his theories.

"May I ask Eleazar, can you detect if I have a 'gift'." He asked Eleazar.

Eleazar studied him and slowly shook his head furrowing his brow, "Are you gifted, son?"

"Yes, sorta…." And he went on to tell Eleazar about just knowing shit. I was surprised. Peter doesn't normally tell people anything about his gift. But as he spoke telling Eleazar about the affects we found with human blood and Carlisle's insistence of having everyone in his dwelling drink animal blood, Eleazar seemed completely engrossed in the conversation. His whole clan drank animal blood. It was one I'm sure Eleazar was involved in before by his comments and feelings on the matter. As time wore on I glanced at Char… we both knew this conversation could go on forever as Peter argued his side with facts.

"I believe we can finish this and our other conversations back at the fortress." Char told the two men. And Carmen looked gratefully at her. And we all agreed.

We went forth going through the house, in particular Carlisle's study; looking for any evidence we could lift before leaving. Jasper made arrangements for the few personal things he wanted out of the house, we could not carry with us now.

We would be having a conversation with Emmett and Rosalie shortly. I didn't want them to hear this news through the grapevine. That would create huge problems and wouldn't be fare to them in the least. They would need to go through the house as well taking their personal belongings and what not before we either stored the rest or gave it away.

Bringing the two them home early would be in order. I spoke to Jasper about it. He agreed, as did the others. Mac got on the phone making it happen. They would be here by mid-morning. It was going to be a long night as I watched the last of the day's light seep out of the sky.

We would be burning down the house eventually. Evidence the Cullens lived here would be erased. In the meantime we left a few of our sentry stationed to make sure the house wasn't disturbed.

Whether Eleazar held true to his word or not would remain to be seen. I looked forward to working with him if he was telling the truth. Like he said, he was an old soul and I did not believe for a second he was a fool. Maybe blinded by friendship and camaraderie, but never a fool. He definitely wasn't stupid either. Although only time would tell, I felt his intentions were genuine.

Giving an olive branch to us after we witnessed what he did to what he considered a friend would be silent warning enough if we went against him. Nothing says 'don't fuck with me' like burning people up. Looking at it from that point of view… no further warning needed.

I was surprised how easily he jumped on the bandwagon. I would always be wary. Peter seemed to think this was exactly how it was suppose to be. I just kept reminding myself Peter didn't trust too many people either and if his instincts were telling him this was right, then I'd suffer my doubts by myself for the time being.

He would be looking into us more now. It was somewhat bothersome and could make trouble for us, but there was nothing we could do about it. I wasn't stupid in believing he hadn't already done some. He admitted he knew we were here. We didn't have anything to truly hide per say. Keeping a low profile has always been key for us, but we couldn't hide forever. I would imagine the very reason why we hadn't been bothered thus far because we hid our true operations.

Our numbers were growing. Our command was expanding. And soon we would be taking over the south. Our operations were moving forward. It thrilled me to no end. We would be soon the talk of the supernatural world. We just needed to stay ahead of the game.

Having Zafrina and now Eleazar backing us put two heavy weights in our corner. Sophia in Africa was a plus. We'd dealt with her in the past on a couple of occasions. She was flighty as hell, but she ran a tight ship. Or tried to anyway. Talking to her in a normal everyday conversation you would think she'd never heard the word leadership. When it came to commanding, it was like she let out another person locked up inside her somewhere to become the chief she was known for. Very strange gal, but smart as a whip, very up front and genuine.

That made possible 3 out of the 8. Yakini's Line stretched under Vladimir's territory. From rumors she and Vlad's relationship was about the same as Eleazar and the Volturi. We'd only dealt with her a couple of times, but from understanding Benjamin was quite close to her, ally wise. A lot of ghouls fled Vlad's territory to hers. So a possible 4 of the Powers would be in our corner.

That was half.

Half was good.

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**A/N**

**THANK YOU READERS!**

********IF YOU DID NOT CATCH IT IN THE LAST UPDATE;**

**THERE ARE ****OUTTAKES**** NOW TO THIS STORY. THE FIRST POSTED IS A JASPER/MAJOR POV.. GO READ AND REVIEW, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF IT ;)*******

**REVIEWS WILL GET A SNEAK PEEK FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

**~Mystycal~**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**

**HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!**

**A HUGE thank you to my Beta, Bripearl! She really had to work hard on this chapter!**

**Thank you to all the readers and reviewers! :) Blew me away with all those who added me to your fav and alert lists this week! Woweeeeeeeeeee!**

**Ok… on to the good stuff!**

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_Previously;_

_That made possible 3 out of the 8. Yakini's Line stretched under Vladimir's territory. From rumors she and Vlad's relationship was about the same as Eleazar and the three Brothers. We'd only dealt with her a couple of times, but from understanding Benjamin was quite close to her, ally wise. A lot of ghouls fled Vlad's territory to hers. So a possible 4 of the Powers could be in our corner. _

_That was half. _

_Half was good._

**~Next to** **Impossible~**

~Izzy POV~

As we flew back, Nevell reported to Mac that he'd caught up to Edward. It seemed Edward's grieving turned to retribution as he came upon a couple of hikers. Guess for now he was changing diets. I just hoped he didn't start taking it out physically on our camp. I would hate to have to destroy him. Nevell requested help from Randal and his ghouls. With the influx of Edwards' gift and the mental condition he seemed to be in, Nevell thought it wise to send them someone Edward's gift was immune to. Ghouls would be able to give him peace and quiet, yet help contain the situation. Randal agreed.

The chopper glided over the trees to the new coordinates Nevell gave for their location. Randall instructed the two ghouls preparing to propel down not to harm Edward unless he attacked first. By their expressions they weren't happy about that. But coming from the mouth of the man Edward took a chunk out of previously and Randall being their 'squad leader,' they listened.

A few minutes later, we were hovering over the treetops above them and dropping the ghouls down. I flipped my COM on and listened as they hit the forest floor and Nevell started to immediately give instructions on displaying the bodies for humans to eventually find. Edward wasn't talking, at least not loud enough for me to hear through Nevell's COM. I couldn't really get a good enough look at them either, through the canopy of treetops.

Before we headed out and I turned off my COM again, Nevell's last words were that he was taking Edward to hunt animals.

I rolled my eyes at the whole thing. I felt sorry for Edward, I really did. But I was exasperated with him too. Maybe that was shallow of me, and I knew that Nevell chose to help him. But Nevell was a big brother to me. Truly family. We'd been through some shit together and he'd always been there for me, especially in the beginning. I wanted him to have the chance to grieve and cry on someone's shoulder, not pick up and put Edward back together. And it wasn't like Nevell was one to cry over shit anyway, but this was different. But he couldn't even process what happened with having to take care of emotard.

We wouldn't be so naive to let Edward loose on his own. I knew Nevell would be good for him, and from the way Edward acted, he would listen to him. They shared a lot of common ground. If Edward would just let Nevell in, maybe he could help him. I was just a little pissed at Edward for pulling this shit now. Nevell was grieving too, and now he was picking up Edward's mess to boot.

Jasper reached over and grabbed my hand. I knew he was feeling the conflicting emotions running through me. I gave him a reassuring smile and shrugged a shoulder. Reaching over he pulled my head to him and kissed my temple tenderly. Fuck, this man had no end to him. My chest grew heavy with emotion. It filled and felt full to straining. I pulled back and gave him a more genuine smile to which he returned. I leaned my head onto his shoulder and took a deep breath releasing it and some of my tension along with it.

Peter sat across from me and I shared a quiet communication with him. We both knew going after them ourselves would make it worse and Nevell wouldn't look kindly upon our interference. Nevell considered Edward his responsibility now. If we interfered it would say we didn't think he could handle it and we were coddling him. He hated that. No one was allowed to feel sorry for him. Taking a peek at Charlotte we shared a similar look. I also realized what Nevell was doing. He was trying to fix others so he didn't show his weaknesses. If he concentrated on Edward, he wouldn't think about what happened and have to deal with it. He was shoving it in the 'later' pile in his brain.

I snorted and turned to stare out the window after Charlotte's eyes told me we were on the same wavelength. Nevell was stuffing his shit away from himself as always. There was nothing we could do about it.

Eleazar began bombarding Jasper with questions regarding the activities of the Cullen's household. I could feel Jasper's irritation at Eleazar's accosting tone. He was incredulous that Jasper didn't know. Finally, Jasper had to remind him that he wasn't the mind reader. Eleazar huffed but eventually relented on asking his questions.

It seemed we were all riding a roller coaster of emotions. No matter how hard we pretended and put up our fronts, it was still tough. Watching Carlisle and Esme come to an end affected all of us on so many different levels. I wouldn't change it but it was just hard to grab a hold of the truth. They were truly gone.

I reached over and grabbed Jasper's hand, sending him understanding, pride and love.

He jerked a little at that, his eyes turning to pierce mine. We hadn't said it to each other yet, but we'd shared the emotions. I knew there was a long road ahead and the bubble of tranquility between the two of us would be bumpy from time to time. I was coming to understand that my previous fears and unrest over unanswered questions regarding Jasper's acceptance of us being mates, was unfounded. I realized that. I put them to rest. I was head over heels for this man. For this man and his Beast. Monstress slid into my eyes as we watched Major appear in his. He shot back the love I sent him along with a bite of lust. I squeezed my legs together and narrowed my eyes at him. His eyes lit with mirth and his accompanying grin instantly made my panties wet. Fucker.

Peter guffawed and put his head in his hand, covering his face as he laughed at us. I growled at him as did Jasper, which just egged Peter on. Charlotte smacked him on the chest hard and he sputtered, trying harder to cover his laughter.

Eleazar and Carmen pretended to not understand what was going on, but both Jasper and my conditions were hard to miss. Our arousal filled the air. I was grateful for the effort however. Not that I cared, but it would only add fuel to Peter's fire. Besides, it was probably in bad taste that we were acting like this after what took place.

I leaned forward and touched my lips lightly to Jasper's, closing my eyes at the feel of the tenderness of his full lips against mine.

Mac interrupted from the front of the chopper and told us all to turn on our COM's. Pulling my lips from Jaspers with a nip of my teeth, I did as asked. Major growled. How I knew it was Major and not Jasper… I'd have to think about that later.

Cheese's voice filled our ears and began updating us. None of us said anything as we all listened. Eleazar seemed agitated by the display, but again I couldn't find it in me to care.

"_You guys should know what our guys found out from the island. Their security is top of the line surrounding the inside and outside of the perimeter wall. The squad unit was able to get close, but they weren't able to stay too long before they were detected. They sent video and still pics; Steffania is receiving them as we speak. Both squads moved out in case the island guards decided to do a sweep of the area. They're on their way to Egypt right now. _

_The brief summery they gave is this; they're more advanced than any satellite pictures we have. There are several more buildings inside the walls. From the smell, there are definitely vampires and dhampirs. They got visuals of Giants training with ghouls. They reported ghoul guards on the perimeter. Very relaxed, from what they saw, of the patrols. Well hell they're on an island, don't imagine them being too vigilant. They did report there are shape shifters, but didn't know what kind. It goes on from there. _

_We've contacted Sophia. She is sending back-up to our guys. Since they were detected, I suggested that we sit back for a few days before we go in again. They'll up the island security, especially right at first. Our squad reported being able to put in our live cams, and one does encompass the training pit. It's far away and super grainy. Steffania is working on quality and zooming it in, getting what we can before the camera is found. The other cameras are on the retaining walls and in the pavilion area in the middle of the outbuildings and the main house, over._" Cheese's report came to a stop and I clicked off my COM.

Sighing I leaned in and kissed Jasper again, stirring the venom in my veins as he kissed and nipped me back.

Fuck, so beautiful. His steady study of me with those eyes swirling in burgundies and golds hypnotized me. This man, this beast, was so mine. I squeezed my legs tighter to which Jasper winked. I chuckled. I so wanted him..too bad we were in a chopper with the others. I almost told them to let us out, we could run from here. I didn't think that would go over too well. Eleazar and Carmen might take offense at that, and we needed them on our side.

Before getting in the chopper, Peter took Jasper, Char, and I aside and discussed how much we should tell and reveal to the Denali's. Full disclosure was frightening, but Eleazar's huge immediate olive branch needed to be acknowledged. His agreeing to come here alone was something to take into consideration. He was walking into a potential lions den. In the end we decided to show him the underground city. If it backfired… well… shit you don't get anywhere in life without taking some risks. We were all on high alert and bumped up our squads around the perimeter. They would remain there until we figured out Eleazar's true intentions. Maybe longer.

We came over the mountain ridge into the valley just then. You couldn't see much from the air, but what you could see always took my breath away. The waterfall to the west spilled from rocky cliffs into a large blue-green lake. It overflowed its banks to the south emptying into the river, which wound its way southeast and then south as it left our sanctity. The sight of these trees and the aroma washing into our senses was the sign of home. The smells wafted up telling us all was right in our little world.

I was grateful to Eleazar for letting us stay, even if it was only for a bit longer. This place was the only consistent thing in my life since I was changed. It gave the sense of stability and security in our constant moving lives, which was a pleasure and a gift I did not take lightly.

The landing pad came closer and closer and Eleazar and Carmen were straining their necks to see as much as they could before landing. Once the chopper hit ground, we exited and moved across the expanse of the landing square and headed north through the trees to the mountain wall, which hid the entrance to the underground city. I saw Jasper watching our guests. I glanced to them as they were looking around in awe trying to take it all in. I wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to reveal so much, but if we were going to get anything from him, we'd have to have his utmost trust. This was the only way to truly get that. Hide everything in plain sight.

Entering the cave found us at the entrance in the floor, Mac quickly put his hand to the sensor and the manhole cover hissed open. Eleazar grabbed Carmen's arm and stepped back quickly. Peter laughed at them and stepped forward, disappearing down the shaft after Mac and Randall.

"It's a 30 foot drop down, at the bottom hang a right." I gave them an encouraging smile as Char quickly followed Peter.

Eleazar stepped forward and peered into the hole. Looking back at me, he tried to smile and stepped off the lip. I heard him suck in a breath as the air whooshed up around him, and then heard his feet hit the ground. "Ok, Carmen, come to me." Eleazar's voice echoed up.

Carmen was standing on the ledge, biting her lip and peering over the edge as her mate had done. She took a deep breath and jumped. I heard her giggle after she landed.

I shook my head. I began to step forward to follow but Jasper had other ideas. He grabbed me from behind suddenly and pressed me to the cave wall 5 feet away.

"Fuck. Do you feel what you do to me?" he hissed as he pressed his hard cock to my ass. "I need you now, I'm not waiting, and I don't give a fuck who watches." he demanded his hiss in my ear.

I moaned moving my ass to press into him further. He hissed as he began trailing kisses up my neck. I panted with desire as his lust combined with mine, my body exploding into sensitivity as goose bumps broke out all over. His hands quickly moved from my hips to my torso to my breasts, squeezing. In seconds I was soaked with need.

I heard him inhale my arousal and he rocked his hips into me again harder, demandingly, as he slipped a hand down the front of my leather pants.

"You're driving me crazy," he rasped and I gave him an answering moan. Reaching around, I quickly found his fly on his jeans and released him.

"Hey, you fuckers, hurry the hell up." Peter's voice carried to us from below.

"Fuck off, Peter," Jasper growled back huskily, "We'll be down in a minute."

"Oh, fuck. Fucking newlyweds… can't fucking keep…." His voice trailed off as we heard him lead the others down into the underground city.

My hand was around Jaspers steel need. I pumped my fist up and circled my fingers around his swollen head. Everything disappeared except for the man pressed to me. I moaned again as I sped my pace round him and his fingers plunged into me.

"Aauunnngghhhh" he moaned into my neck as his fingers fucked my slick pussy. The air around us seemed to intensify and form sparking electricity fueled by our quickening desires.

Our lust churned around us as we panted and groped for more.

He quickly slid his fingers into my wet pussy pumping hard as his thumb found my clit as I gripped him harder and pumped faster.

"Fuck this," I panted and with my other hand I undid my zipper and tried to slide my pants down to my knees. Jasper didn't hesitate, taking control as I bent over more. Slipping his fingers out of me he grabbed my hips, I let go of him, and soon felt him at my entrance rubbing the head of his cock up and down my slit coating us both thoroughly.

"Hang on." He breathed huskily and I barely got a good grip on the wall before he slammed into me. My walls gripped him and he made a keening noise as I let out a long moan. Fuck he felt good. He filled me fully.

This wasn't the best place to do this. Any second we could be caught which seemed to only increase my desire and fuel my need, as it seemed to be doing for Jasper as well. Maybe Peter and Char weren't so dumb after all. Exhibitionism wasn't something I thought myself to ever be into, but this seemed to increase the excitement in me. It was a rush that added to the already skyrocketing craving.

Jasper pulled almost all the way out and slammed back into me.

"Your pussy feels so fucking good." He groaned.

"Fuck me, Jasper. Faster." I panted and he did as I demanded. His strokes became rapid and needy as our skin slapped together, filling the cave with the echoes of our mating. His grip on my hips only increased as our passion spiraled towards the precipice.

He pushed me forward and down some and suddenly he was hitting a place inside me that had me keening uncontrollably. Reaching down, I quickly rubbed my clit in tight little circles and it had me flying into the abyss in seconds.

"ARRuuunnnngghhhhhhHH" I screamed coming undone, squeezing my eyes shut and letting the kaleidoscope of colors overtake me.

"Fuck!" Jasper ground out, his growl combining with mine as it ricocheted on the cave walls as he came deep inside me.

We panted as he pulled me up and into his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his lips to mine as we tried to catch our breaths.

"I needed that." I whispered against his lips.

"Me too, darlin'. I almost took you on that chopper with everyone watching." I let out a small chuckle.

"That would've gone well, I'm sure," sarcasm dripping from my voice.

He laughed, "We could've survived the crash." And he nipped my lips.

"Alright, come on!" Peter's voice wafted up to us.

Laughing I pulled up my pants and turned watching Jasper tuck himself away to which I pouted.

"Later." He said pulling me to him and nipping my lips again.

"Soon." I whispered returning the promise.

(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

We followed the recent scents in the tunnels to find 4 vampires waiting for us. Eleazar tried to look indifferent but I could see both he and his mate were amused. Peter was shaking his head in mock disappointment and Char beamed at us.

Oh, boy.

"Did you give them a tour, Peter?" Jasper asked.

"Of, course, what kind of host would I be if I were to just skip off and-"

"Don't finish it Peter." Char warned and turned to us, "Yes, we're just heading to the Command room." We nodded and Jasper grabbed my hand leading us all down to the second floor.

Our guests asked simple questions about the development of our underground city as we went.

Jasper held his hand to the sensor and the Command room door, when we reached it and it hissed open. Stepping in we turned to see Eleazar and Carmen step in and stop as they took in the enormous room.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Jasper was soon to join me as we made our way to a sitting area on the right side of the room. At the large Persian rug, I slipped off my boots and dug my toes into the plush heaven.

I heard Peter slap Eleazar on the back and tell him "Mi casa es su casa."

Charlotte came to sit by Jasper and I on the couch, which sat against the wall facing the room. I put my head on her shoulder and she patted my leg as we waited for the others. Eleazar and Carmen took everything in with wide curious eyes.

"We need some R&R." Char said under her breath.

"I know," I whispered, "Soon, I need to stretch my legs and release some of this tension."

"What are you guys going on about?" Jasper asked.

"You would think you wouldn't have an ounce of tension left." Char snickered and I playfully slapped her and couldn't help but smile.

I pulled my head up from Char's shoulder and wiggled my eyebrows at Jasper. "Discussing some fun later. We need to get out and stretch our legs and re-group. Let some tension out."

"How will you do that?" He asked as a sly grin lit his face.

I smiled evilly at him, "Show you now or later?" I said huskily and he groaned shifting his ass to re-adjust himself.

"Fucking tease!" he chuckled.

"I'm not a tease if I mean to follow through."

"mmmmm." He said and closed his eyes.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here," Char elbowed me. "I can also smell you, you know." she said with mock heat.

"Right, that." I snickered.

Jasper mocked a cough "Jealous". Char scoffed, but I knew it was true. She'd be giving into Peter soon whether Peter was good or not. She couldn't go for more than 3 or 4 days without it, if that.

Eleazar came to sit down across from us to our right, pulling Carmen with him. From their perch on the sofa they never stopped looking around the room.

Peter followed them and took a single chair to the left, clearing the venom from his throat as he sat down, "I guess since we're here we should ask, how much do you know about us?"

Eleazar tried to hide a grin at Peter's forwardness. "To be honest only rumors here and there. A group of vampires, and dhampirs teaming to live together in a valley somewhere to the east of our home. There's a buzz, you could say, uh… speculation you were all from the war in the south seeking refuge. Quite frankly, there has not been much. I let it go because of the south rumors. There are lots of places in our territory giving shelter to those trying to stay hidden from Maria. Not as large as this one, granted. If you had come to me soon, I would have sent someone to you. I must say, it is much larger than I expected. You have done well here."

"It's a place to call home," Charlotte said with pride.

"I can see that yes, very impressive." Eleazar returned her smile.

"It's amazing is what it is." Carmen's voice was full of admiration.

"I would like to talk about the wolves." I jumped in before we got to talking about anything else.

"Ah, yes." Eleazar took a deep breath, "it is a hairy spot to be in. Irina truly believed Laurent to be her mate. He has been gone for years with no word; Alice would only tell her she could no longer see him. Irina still believes he will come back. For her to be in such denial and not grieving for his death that she should have felt, leads me to believe he was not truly her mate. You cannot loose a mate and not know it. Impossible."

"You will tell her of his passing?" I asked warily.

"I do not wish to, no. But it is something I will have to do. She will want retribution as you know, and it's why you are so concerned. I understand that. I will do my best to stop her from coming after them. Irina has changed a lot of newborns over the years that she rules over. I cannot control every move she makes, but I can demand she not seek them out giving you at least a month or longer if need be to prepare for her attack. This is a great concern to you as well it is for me. I do not like to see fighting amongst allies."

"Why do we have to tell her?" Carmen spoke up. I was a little surprised at her willingness to keep the secret from Irina.

Eleazar turned to his mate, "If we do not and she finds out she will be, what is the word they use? Postal."

"They haven't used that word for a couple decades now, but it's not the point, even if she finds out later we can tell her it was for her benefit we kept it from her." Carmen argued.

"Yes, but I will not lie, and anyway, this way we can control when and how she finds out. What if she got wind of it somehow and we didn't know she did? If she went after them without telling anyone, it would be most unfortunate." Eleazar said.

"That part is true. And it is her 'mate' I understand you will have to tell her. Giving us time to prepare is very gracious of you." I said.

"I demand honesty from everyone, the least I can do is return it." Eleazar said sadly.

"Would it be possible to hold off telling her anything until we figure out what's going on overseas?" Peter asked.

Eleazar contemplated the question for minute; turning to Carmen they held a silent conversation before he nodded to us. "I make no promises she will not find out, but I give you my word I will wait until this other mess is cleared up. Now, tell me what the ghouls are doing here."

Ok. Not the place I thought we would start.

"They're here for the same reason the rest of us are." I answered. What did he want to know?

"Where did they come from?" He demanded.

I laughed, "What are you trying to ask? They came from all over the place. Some are from the same place the dhampirs came from."

"Are they from Vladimir's experiments?" He asked gravely.

"Some yes." I answered honestly.

"The others?" He questioned.

"You'll have to talk to them. I'm not trying to be evasive, but it's not my story to tell. Right along with the dhampirs. You need to ask them. I think what's more important here is what you know about the tournaments." I snapped.

Eleazar studied me for a minute. "You are very protective of them."

"Yes. We all are. They're family. We've fought alongside nearly all of them. We will be fighting alongside them again. They're all trusted. They keep our secrets and we keep theirs." Peter jumped in.

"We-"

The glass door hissed open cutting Eleazar off, and Mac and Sarah entered. They carried armfuls of electronics and folders. We all stood joining them at the map center, in the middle of the room, as they hustled around loading software into various gadgets and organizing the stacks of folders.

"We have what the Africa teams have sent us. We'll go through the still photos first, and then I'll show you the video footage. There are the current spy cameras as well. They haven't picked up anything unusual or anyone we recognize as of yet. Steffania is still working on the camera focused on the pit area." Mac said taking a stack of folders from his piles of surveillance. "That camera is far away and we're having trouble with some interference." He said absently as he focused on the still pics.

He laid out the snapshots on the map table, spreading them before us all. We all took a handful and started sorting through them. "I thought you might want to see these first. I'll load the satellite pictures on the glass prompters." We nodded.

Around the large map table stood 6 glass prompters. They were 3 inch thick pieces of divestible glass. They could be used as a variety of things. When turned off they looked just like a glass window. When prompted they could turn into a regular looking huge screen TV. Flipping a switch again they could become transparent dry erase boards. Very useful.

The still pictures Mac handed us were shocking, showing that the island was transformed with buildings and people. Four new outbuildings stood around the castle-like structure, making it look like an old English-style campus. The four brick and concrete outbuildings were 2 stories high, each with windows wrapping around them all, giving the impression that they were some kind of apartments.

What we thought were empty stables before, were now filled. There seemed to be a farmyard zoo thing going on. Cows, horses, sheep, goats in abundance led us to assume ghouls, dhampirs, and possibly humans were on the premises. Dhampirs could consume food as well as blood. Ghouls ate nothing but fresh raw meat. To the north of the castle, there appeared to be shrubbery and rose gardens or something, at closer look you could see it was actually vegetable gardens. They were playing it smart, raising their own food.

The still pictures of the pit were the biggest shocker. It was evident from the angle that it had been taken from the only mountaintop on the island. Lying west and separate from the castle grounds, it encompassed an enormous area. The 20 foot retaining wall had been torn down, moved back 400 yards, and rebuilt. It was huge. But that's not what was shocking.

It was what was in the pit. I grabbed the next photo that was a close up; making sure that what I was seeing was what I thought.

I stood unmoving, picture in hand, wondering how the hell we were going to do this and not get some of us killed. There were so many. They were huge. Maybe the numbers made them look larger than they actually were. And then there were the others. So many. Such a waste.

I suppose we could blow up the island. That probably wouldn't kill them all though. They were tough bastards. At least these were dressed. Not well. But they were dressed. There was no way we could go in there and come out with no casualties. Fuck. This would take careful planning.

I briefly wondered if we could talk to these people… er… beings and see if we could reason with them. I discarded that as soon as it flashed through my mind. Previous encounters with the giants and people involved in this were not into sitting down for chitchat. I didn't figure that a tea party would be happening any time soon.

Jasper leaned his chin on my shoulder and looked at the picture I held in my hand.

"Oh. Fuck." He breathed and took it from me to stare at it himself.

"Yeah." I said and let out the breath I was holding. Not only were there 30 Giants, there were also at least that many ghouls. We were so fucked. And that was just what was in the pit at the time.

Peter leaned over Jasper's right side to see and whistled lowly.

"Look at those fuckers! They're huge!" Peter exclaimed taking the picture from Jasper.

The picture soon got passed around the table as we all tried to digest this. I looked through more of the stack, taking the pictures relevant to this topic.

"What are these people? The big ones?" Eleazar asked bewildered.

"Well, we don't know. We call them Giants. We're not even sure what they're made of or from. The last lab we took down was the first time we saw them. They aren't easy to kill. Tough as nails, they don't have a smell until you gut them. Their blood doesn't smell but their intestines do. They stand at least 7 feet tall. They emit evil. I don't know how else to explain it. You can feel them coming at you."

"And what of your other ability Miss Izzy?" Eleazar asked softly raising a brow in question.

"My infrared," I acknowledged and he gave a small smile and nodded, "I can't see them."

He frowned, "That is most unfortunate."

"I'd say." I said sourly.

"How does it work, if you don't mind the inquiry," Eleazar asked.

"Since you seem to know," I laughed and told him how my vision picks out heat signatures.

"Very interesting." His voice was a little awed.

"What do you think they're doing?" Char asked.

"Training for something it would seem," my voice dry.

Eleazar chuckled, un-amused, "Yes, so it would seem, but training for what?"

"I have no idea. To take over the world? To take over someone's line? To do something at these tournaments? They were created for something, that's for damn sure. There's a fuckload that's all I know. Planning isn't going to be easy like the previous times."

"You've seen places like this before?" Carmen asked looking up from the picture.

"No, just the labs. They were far worse than anything you're seeing here." I said sourly.

"Do you have pictures of those?" Carmen murmured as she took in the photos.

"Yes." Mac said.

"Please, may we see them?" Carmen asked him.

"Of course." He nodded. "We have video in here from the last raid actually." Mac said and prompted one of the glass TV's as he spoke. The video came online and began showing the aftermath of the lab in South America. I turned away from it busying myself with the pictures on the table. I didn't need to see that shit again. I lived it.

They all watched as the video cam, carried by one of the ghouls, picked up the macabre of the underground facility they held their experiments in.

"Mac, we haven't heard from the wolves?" I whispered. I was surprised they hadn't checked in.

"Yes, a few hours ago, but nothing to report. The 3 are still unconscious. They said they've been tracking down other tribes we know of, trying to find someone who's missing people. So far it's been a bust. No one's been reported missing or being in South America in the last year. If we knew what the shifters were, it would help."

I sighed and grabbed my braid, yanking on it in frustration. Being only half changed we couldn't tell what they were. The three looking similar led us to believe that they were the same kind of shifter, just not what. The chemicals changed them so much that there was no way to tell by smell. I wrinkled my nose remembering the wretched aroma.

"Did we inform the wolves of today's events?" I continued to whisper as the footage played in the background.

"Yes, Sam is coming for the pick up himself. With Embry, I think." Mac informed me.

"When?"

"In the next week or so. They're not in a hurry with the three shape shifters there and them not being awake yet. We might send someone with the ashes instead." He replied.

"Mmmm. I imagine not." They knew we'd keep a hold of them until they could get here, or we'd drop them off next time we went through. "What about the ghouls," I lifted my chin pointing to the TV.

"No one else has woken yet." Mac said sadly.

They watched the entire footage. Eleazar and Carmen both were wide eyed and catchin' flies by the end.

Eleazar turned to us. "You have found more of these places?" He asked unbelievingly.

"Yes," Peter answered grimly, "they're all about the same, only varying in degrees of fucked-up."

"This is outrageous! And to think Carlisle were sending people to these places!" the rage in his voice was undeniable. "This only rids any doubts I held previously at their deaths!"

"Yes. However, we don't know which labs Alice was sending them to. I'm not so sure Carlisle even knew. The ones who survived, as you know, were sent to Maria. Maybe Edward picked something up in the end." Peter said thoughtfully. "I hope he pulls his head out quickly. Nevell does not need to deal with this for long." We all nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure it was hard for him, but it was hard for Nevell as well. Nevell has had time to process this over the years, Edward has not. Go easy on him." Char said and I raised my eyebrows at her.

I shrugged making no promises.

"That being the case, it's going to be a rough dealing with Maria. We have no idea what these peoples' potentials are. It might be in our best interests to take care of that situation sooner rather than later. She could know where they were coming from and what these tournaments are. She's the last leader that we know of in Heidi's hidden Line."

"It would be beneficial to take her out now, but her having back up like what's in these photos could destroy us." I said grimly. "Not to mention her 'chosen' lieutenants."

"We could kidnap her." Char said.

"Yes, but we'd have to corner her away from her guards first. Separating her from the herd isn't going to be easy." I replied.

"We have bait." Peter quipped.

"NO." I said immediately and with as much venom as I could. Peter raised his hands in solace.

"I could go down there-" Jasper started and I already knew where this was going and I cut him off.

"How 'bout I just go down there by myself and take care of her?" I snarled at him as Monstress roared within in me.

He growled at me, Major rising in his eyes as he stared me down.

"Exactly my point." I said as I felt his rage swarm in and through me.

He glared at Monstress and me. I saw when he realized what that would do to us, the same as it would do to him if I were to do it.

"All right. Point taken." He said backing down and the rage slowly turned into understanding.

"So, how do we go into this island?" Eleazar asked. I guess he was putting his feet in.

"You're coming?"

"Well, it would be detrimental to my line if I myself went and something happened to me, but I am willing to help in anyway I can." He said.

Huh.

We discussed how to engage the island at length. Underwater attack. Air attack. Boat. That one didn't take long to discuss, it really wasn't an option. Using my power seemed to be the best option once we hit land. That would be great for anything not giant. If we took the giants out one at a time, it was possible to use my gift. With the one I fought myself, I didn't get the impression that I could use the vamp-ash bindings against them too well. They were strong. Not only that, they were also hard to move. I jumped right in the middle of his chest and he fucking laughed at me.

Putting bindings on them and then trying to move their bodies would take strength from my gift that I didn't have. Even if I beefed up on human blood only, I wouldn't be able to handle more than one or two, at most, at a time.

Jasper let us know that his empathic abilities didn't work on them either. This was going to be a problem. Jasper hadn't tried his gift on the ghouls yet. We called one of Mac's team in from the control room and found out quickly it did, in fact, work.

So this news just left us with the giants to deal with.

Cheese let us know that Steffania finally got the camera at the best quality she could get it and demanded we watch some footage of the pit area.

We did.

Another glass monitor came up to the right of us and we moved to watch it. It was still pretty grainy, but it didn't matter because we could see enough to know what we were seeing. It was near morning there, it appeared. There were only 8 giants in the pit now. 10 ghouls stood to the outer edge in a loose circle around the giants. There was no sound, but there seemed to be a lot of yelling going on.

One ghoul rushed a giant who was standing out from the pack slightly. He jumped in the air for his attack, but the giant moved only his arms as he reached in the air, grabbed the ghoul, and proceeded to rip him apart. As he fell to the ground in broken pieces I realized that there was more than just that one ghoul cluttered on the ground. Other ghouls and giants lay torn and shredded, strewn at the giant's feet.

We stood stunned as the giants laughed and seemed to egg on the next moron stupid enough to try to attack them. I thought I was going to be sick.

The next to try were 3 ghouls teamed together. They came at the same giant as the last idiot. The giant seemed to not pay attention to them at all as they approached. The giant quickly jumped in the air towards them as they neared, cutting off the distance left and grabbing two of them by their necks. He merely slammed their heads together as the third ghoul jumped onto his back and tried to strangle him. At least that's what he appeared to be doing. The giant let go of the ghouls in his enormous hands and reached back, taking the ghoul from his back and slamming him to the ground.

The three lay still. I wasn't sure if they were dead or not.

"Zafrina is online waiting to be transferred." Mac told us and set up yet another glass monitor and cut the visual to the island video.

The glass buzzed to life as we watched Zafrina come to life in front of us. I wasn't sure what we all looked like, but I was disgusted at what I had seen. And more than a little worried. Those giants were fucking dangerous.

"Izzy! I have news… oh… Edeazar! Carmen! It is unexpected zurprise do see you!" Zafrina declared.

"Zafrina, as always, it is a pleasure." Eleazar said with an amused grin.

"Zafrina." Carmen greeted her warmly.

"I'm assumed Cardisle and Esme is dead?" She asked.

"Yes, you assume correctly." Eleazar said and offered no more.

"Is something wrong Zafrina?" I asked before she could delve into details none of us wanted to go into.

"Ah, yes, it is wid edcitment I call." Zafrina said and smiled hugely, "De ghouls awakened are speaking. Dey know der names. We dug dem up. Ald three come from Mexico near Monclova.

Dey came from dat bitch Maria! Dis is most unfortunate! Major? Do help? If no, I send my people now to take care of her!" Zafrina's eyes shown with the light of someone out for blood.

"Zafrina," Jasper addressed her.

"I will not tolerate dis. You dar now line leader." Zafrina cut off his answer.

"Yes, I realize this Zafrina, we have obligations-" He tried to replay again.

"No." She cut him off again and I felt Jasper stiffen, "Oder island not going anywhere! DIS is more important! I have been fighting with her for decades!" she was pounding on her desk as she spoke.

"Zafrina." Jasper's sharp reprimand made her shut up, "How do you know Maria is involved? Just because these people came from Mexico? Do you have any other evidence to link them? I'm not trying to defend her, I just want everything on the table we can get."

"Ah, too big coincidence, Jasper. Dink about it. We know Adice involved, now dem coming from Der? No. It is her. Or it was Adice herself. Doesn't matter. I am done with them!" She ranted.

"We'll discuss it." Jasper's posture stiff and unyielding. He was pissed that she wouldn't listen.

"Mmmm, Yes. Call me, tell me." Then she abruptly hung up.

Jasper growled at her rudeness, "What do you think has prompted the immediate concern for her attention to be on Maria now?"

"I believe it would be a combination of events." I said, "One we took out the Cullens, Alice is gone, Eleazar being involved and here with us… I would imagine she's being protective of her property."

"Protective?" Jasper's voice was incredulous.

"Yes. Eleazar being here makes her nervous; Eleazar could just as easily take Mexico as we could. Alice invading his line gives him the right to seek retribution."

"I have no desire to do any such thing." Eleazar said.

"Well, she's intimidated I would imagine. We all can't be in two places at once. It's not going to hurt to watch the island for a bit anyways, as previously discussed. She is right. That island isn't going anywhere. We have more people coming into the area and Sophia and Yakini are being made aware of the situation."

"So it would seem, but I don't see us making any fast decisions on the island anyways. There's not much we can do. Besides, finding out what they're up to is more important. If they are training, we need to find out what for. Get some concrete answers before we start swinging." Peter said.

"Ok, we need to get everything we have on Maria and where she is or we might think she is. Gather all the Intel that we have." I said looking at Mac. "Call Ben and have him talk to Sophia and have Sarah or Steffania call Yakini. Move as many people into that area as we can afford towards Egypt and Libya. If they make a move to get off the island, we'll have to do something, but for now we simply watch."

"On it." Mac said.

"So you will be going after Maria? That is good I must say. I am unable, as you know, to help you with any manpower. This is not merely taking out bad business but taking over a line completely. I do not mean any ill will when I say that any help from me could be looked down upon by the other Leaders, not to mention Zafrina."

"We understand Eleazar; we don't feel ill towards you. This is our fight. We have plenty to go in now. We just need a few days for some organization and redistribution of our efforts that are otherwise engaged." I reassured him.

"I can, however, lend you anything you need material wise. If you need transportation or anything of that nature, I would be happy to provide that for you." Eleazar offered.

"Thank you. We'll let you know." Jasper said. I could still feel his irritation at Zafrina's bad-mannered phone call. I didn't blame him.

We quickly finished looking at the rest of the photos and Intel on the island, Sarah slowly starting to replace it with what we had on Maria. Maria's armies were huge and in several places around Central America and Mexico to varying degrees.

We tried to keep track of her, but she traveled with an entourage that kept her hidden and her whereabouts were hard to pin down.

Right now, however, the entourage was near Monclova, which seemed to reaffirm that what Zafrina was telling us was true. We had two units of 6 watching her. Six vampires, four dhampirs and two ghouls to be exact.

They weren't positive that she was there, but three of her Seconds were. Charles, Montgomery, and Aden. Aden was talented. We believed he had some sort of an ability to freeze vampires and people in place. The only positive thing was that he was restricted to touching you to use it.

"IZZ! I've got a call for you!" Cheese said bursting into the room and scrambling to a glass monitor.

"Who."

"Maria… she's on Video Com."

Oh fuck.

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**A/N**

**Don't shoot!**

**Next chapter will be up next Thursday.**

**This is the 13****th**** chapter in 7 weeks! (Including Jasper's POV) WOW. But I'm slowing down because work in real life has me overwhelmed. It'll only be once a week for a while.**

**REVIEWS GET A SNEAK PEAK AT NEXT WEEKS 14****th**** CHAPTER!**

**Thank you!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N**

**Fanfiction is having ERROR Type 2 problems when uploading stories lol... if your an author and know what I'm talking about you'll understand my loss of hair... if not... I do appologize for the late update**

**I found a way to upload the story around the Error FF kept giving me... so here you are guys, a little late, but never the less still here! **

**Thank you as always for the great reviews!**

**Huge Thanks to my Beta Bripearl ! She Rocks!**

**SM Owns Twilight… I own Izzy's Monstress.**

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_Previously;_

"_IZZ! I've got a call for you!" Cheese exclaimed frantic as he burst into the room and scrambled to a glass monitor._

"_Who."_

"_Maria… she's on Video Com."_

_Oh fuck._

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~She Will Die Slowly! ~

~Izzy POV~

"WHAT!"

Things moved fast in the room as complete focus centered on Cheese as he expertly set the connection on the TV so we could receive the phone call.

"Who does she want to talk to?"

"How the hell did she get our number?"

"What the fuck does she want?"

"Where the fuck is she?"

"Who told her how to get a hold of us?"

Everyone spoke at once.

"She wants to talk to Izzy, I said, and I don't know the rest." Cheese said standing still finally at the edge of the glass prompt. His eyes were a little unfocused as he took us all in with huge eyes.

"How the hell does she know my name?" I asked no one in particular.

"I didn't ask. If she weren't on VID I wouldn't have believed it was her. We picked up and she demanded to talk to you."

"Fuck." I took a deep breath. "Well, shit, everyone move back. I'm starting out alone."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Jasper started to protest his face etched in worry.

"She's not here." I reassured him, "She can't hurt me, and we need to figure out what the hell she knows." Turning to Mac, "We need to get every line going in and out of here traced. Find out if it's us or if it's in Zafrina's line. There's a leak somewhere. I want to know where the fuck it is." I felt Monstress rub against my inner skin; she didn't like this anymore than I did. Less even. Something felt off. We were so careful keeping track of everyone's whereabouts.

"Already on it. You know we track all of ours already. We're going back through them, and we're already tapping Zafrina's again as we speak. Maria is calling from the mountains outside of Monclova." Cheese rushed.

I nodded.

Everyone backed off behind the screen and Cheese hit the link as he dodged behind the screen with them.

Maria's smug smile came up on line. She was quite beautiful, really. Olive skin, long luscious black hair, and petite frame. She had a sneer on her face as she got a good look at me. She stood in a large plain empty concrete room. It wasn't a very large room; the walls were cracked and looked a century old.

"Well. Well. Well. Who the fuck are you?" Maria snarled still eyeing me.

I raised a brow, "You asked for me by name, I imagine you already know."

"The infamous Izzy?" she said incredulously, and then quickly schooled her face. "You have made quite a stirring in our world, niña." Making sure she hit the 'n's with gusto. Ok, I so did not like her.

"What is it you want Maria?" I growled. I didn't like being called a little girl.

"I have business with you. I want to negotiate for Alice and Jasper." she snapped.

I stiffened and slit my eyes at her. She didn't know Alice was dead? She didn't know Jasper was mine. She didn't know me by sight. I studied her for a minute taking in her gloating attitude. I could hear noise out from somewhere in the room, it sounded like someone wrestling around. There were grunts and moans and shuffling.

"Who says I have them?" I asked carefully.

"I know you do! Don't fuck with me niña." Her thick Spanish accent was easy to understand. So was the unspoken threat.

"Why would you want them? How did you get my number?" I didn't really expect an answer to the latter.

"That does not matter! You have them! I will negotiate for them." She barked.

"What makes you think you have anything I want? What is this all about, Maria." Where the hell was she going with all this?

"Oh, I do pretty niña." She leered. Creepy.

"What the fuck do you want to negotiate Maria? Time is ticking." I spat at her.

"Time is ticking, but not for me, it is for you," she yelled in Spanish for someone behind the camera and soon there were vampires pushing, pulling and grappling with several preternatural creatures, getting them in front of the camera. I held in a gasp of horror. "I want you to see what I found." She smiled, waving a hand like Vanna white.

I stared. Holy fuck. I watched as my sentries struggled with their captors. She had five of them. Five of my men and women. I realized that my legs were shaking with adrenaline and my body was vibrating; I fisted my hands into my legs trying to get them to be still. Jasper's mojo tried to soothe me but I couldn't calm down, it wasn't penetrating my rage. I watched the scene in front of me unfold and took quick inventory of our sentries from head to toe.

There were two vampires, Dennis and Deni, two dhampirs Carlos and Brandy, and one male ghoul, Jose. I noticed that the vampire's arms were gone. The others were being held with their own vamp-ash bindings.

How the fuck did this happen?

Their eyes were wildly looking around the room, behind the camera where I couldn't see.

"What, Isabella?" Jasper breathed. And Peter reached forward putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Our people." I breathed back. Peter, Char, Cheese and Mac hissed. Jasper's mojo turned to fury.

"Chill it out a bit, Major," Eleazar whispered, and the emotional shit storm lifted.

I saw Eleazar and Carmen quickly restrain Peter and Charlotte from coming in front of the camera to see what was going on. I was grateful; their eyes were full of unease and anxiety. Cheese was holding Mac back. Jasper stood alone looking like a bull ready to charge.

"What do you want, Maria?" I growled gaining her attentions from her captives. She was putting on a show, taunting and cooing to them.

"Have your attention now, do I?" her voice was singsong and completely triumphant that she had my complete attention. "I want Jasper and Alice." She said simply.

"And if I say no?" I hissed.

She turned and ripped Jose's head off his body with no warning. I lurched forward a foot before stopping, realizing that ripping the TV apart would not do me or Jose a bit of good. Not to mention the rest of them in the room. Being a ghoul, there was no coming back for him.

Blood sprayed and I tried to hold onto Monstress and my growl, but it was no use, I roared. Monstress clawed my brain in retaliation of what we were seeing. I saw the other sentries struggling against their captors, and all I wanted to do was jump through that screen and make Maria pay. Monstress came surging forward and I staggered from the sheer force. It actually calmed me some, feeling her so close to my skin.

"And then there were 4," Maria laughed.

"Motherfucker!" I hissed.

Now Eleazar, Carmen and Cheese had their hands full with the others' response to my reaction.

I was going to fucking kill her. She was a dead woman. My rage had no bounds. Blinking my eyes to try to focus on what was happening, my vision cleared enough to make sure the other four were still breathing.

"Don't do it, IZZY!" Deni, our female vampire screamed. "She'll kill us anyway!" Her captor struggled with her as she twisted her body back and forth. Venom leaked from her arms and soaked her sides.

"SHUT UP!" Maria screamed and backhanded Deni.

"They killed the others!" Dennis struggled as well, and Carlos and Brandy followed suit all talking at once. Only after reviewing the tape did we catch everything they were saying.

"They surrounded us."

"We tried."

"Came from nowhere."

"We've told them nothing!"

"Kill them all, Izzy!"

"She plans to kill us anyway!"

"She has new gifted!"

"She knew we were there!"

"Don't do the exchange!"

"Sees the past!"

"Can see the past!"

"SHUT UP! Take them away!" Maria screamed and hit Dennis with her fist. His head snapped back with a crack of thunder as his nose and cheekbone broke.

I was panting and spitting venom through my gritted teeth, trying to contain my anger. My hands furled and unfurled at my sides. Jasper was pacing, spitting through his teeth as he watched me.

"Maria. If you kill another I will hunt you down and fucking kill you slowly." I said darkly. For a moment I thought Jasper was going to give himself away but I caught his eye quickly and shook my head minutely and he backed off, he didn't like it but he did it anyway.

The chaos continued in the room with Maria, as I stood helpless watching. Our struggling and still yelling sentries were soon led out of the room, away from the camera as Maria yelled and snapped at them.

"Maria!" I shouted stoutly gaining some composure.

"I believe threats are worthless here," she said coming back to face the camera. "I have the upper hand. You will meet me soon with what I want. I call you in one hour with the time and place." She cut the link.

Eleazar, Carmen and Cheese let go and the snarls and growls filled the room.

"Holy fucking shit!" Peter burst as he paced. Char tried to calm him but he brushed her off.

I paced, pulling at my braid and trying to calm down. It didn't work. The couch I occupied a few hours ago flew into the air with blinding speed and crashed into the far cave wall. It shattered, sending shards and cushion bits flying. Chairs twirled as Monstress and I stood in the middle of the room panting. I closed my eyes and tried to get a grip, to no avail. Jasper came to me trying to wrap me in his arms.

The images wouldn't leave my head. Maria simply ripped his head off. No remorse. No second thoughts. Not even a threat that it was going to happen.

Our people.

My people.

No arms.

She was going to kill them. I could feel it in my bones.

They were there with that psycho bitch and there was nothing I could do. Get a fucking grip! There was no way they would survive. From what I had heard of her, she wasn't going to let them live. From what the others screamed Maria had no intention of letting them live. And I was how many fucking hours from them?

MOTHERFUCKER! How the fuck did this happen?

I heard glass shatter.

How did she get a hold of them in the first place?

Furniture scattered.

Our people had no arms! Our people were being held hostage and tortured. They stood spilling their own venom down their arms screaming for me to basically let them die!

My people.

Papers flew around me.

I saved Jose myself from the carnage in the 3rd lab we'd raided. I had helped to train Brandy, the female dhampir, when she joined us. She was in the first training group Josh let me lead. The others I fought side by side with countless times. We all had.

Dennis was the youngest of them all. He'd only been turned eight or nine years ago in yet another lab.

All had similar stories.

I heard more furniture crack and splinter.

They were ours, Dammit!

'This isn't about you' I scolded myself. Think around it! Think around it!

"Listen to me." I heard Jasper's voice as I panted, trying to control myself. Monstress was roaring, "Listen to me."

I tried to focus but I couldn't, my head swam and I was suddenly low to the ground in a field of grass. I sucked in air as Monstress' memory bombarded me.

The room around me disappeared.

"_Hunt Killllll_," Monstress hissed, a flash through my eyes had us crouched low to the ground in a field.

Hunting.

I felt her muscles bunch and release as we slithered through the tall tan grass stalking our prey. "_Killllll_" We were silent as we inched along the wet ground, tracking a smaller cat's scent.

"_KIT KILLLLER_" I could feel the low rumble in our belly of revenge.

I see our prey being lazy now. Licking my kit's blood off his paws. Stealthily I slither through the grass. I have time. Nothing to stop me. Will kill.

Closer and closer I creep. No sound comes as I lay my paws on grass and wet earth. I am great hunter.

Clever.

I am downwind.

He does not know.

I am almost there.

Closer.

Closer.

I pause, breathing in and out my mouth and nose so he may not hear my breaths.

Close.

Closer.

Close enough.

Silently bunching our muscles under us.

Slowly digging my claws into earth for good strong grip, we prepare to attack.

We spring forward silently with hunting speed, catching kit killer off guard.

He quits licking his paws and is surprised to see me. Landing on his back, I go for the kill, grabbing at his neck with my teeth. I underestimate him and he wrenches his neck away from me. We roll as he tries to free himself of me. He screams as my claws dig into his back further.

He will go nowhere… he dies now.

We roll and tumble and I get a hold of his neck in my sharp teeth and clamp down.

He goes nowhere now.

He is good as dead.

I shake and bite into him, locking my jaw around his neck. He screams again and struggles, kicking me to dislodge me. He wants to survive. But he is mine for death.

Shaking my head, his body becomes limp under mine. I do not let go. I can still feel his heart beating under my belly as I lay on top of him. He is panting. He is weak. Death, kit killer, I screech and yowl to him, letting him know my complete rage.

I let him know he is dying by my paw.

I clamp my jaw harder into small cat's fur, teeth sinking into muscle and sinew. I can taste his life blood. I shake my head hard. I feel and hear his neck snap in my strong jaws. Kits had no chance against him, but I am bigger, stronger, and smarter than Kit Killer.

His heart stutters and stops.

Kit killer will kill no more.

"Isabella! …. Isabella!" I'm being shaken and I come out of the memory with a gasp. Jasper's voice drew me back to the present as he frantically growled, holding me to his chest.

"She's coming around." I hear an echo in the room that I am presently in. Shaking off the memory sense is hard.

"Isabella! Come back to me." His demanding tone was wrapped in concern and I feel something pressing to my face over and over with soft wetness.

I was sucked under again into a memory. Small cat got my shoulder. Mate lay on top of me holding me still as he licked and cleaned my gaping wound. "_MMMaaatTTEee_" Monstress hissed.

I fluttered my eyelashes open and saw our mate in front of me as he kissed my face. Jasper stopped as I opened my eyes fully and his relief as our eyes met was palpable.

I growled. My chest felt so heavy with a burden I didn't think was mine. Major rumbled back as he ran his hands over my body looking for injuries. Monstress' little show and tell was more than just a visual memory. I could feel her grief mingle with mine.

"There you are," Jasper grumbled and grabbed me, holding me to him. "Where did you go? Don't do that again." His reprimand was overshadowed by the emotions pouring from him into me. He was worried, frantic. He rocked us as my arms came up to wrap around his torso tightly. I realized that we were on our knees, with everyone looking on with unfathomable emotions etched on their faces.

"I'm all right. I'm all right." Leaning forward I kissed his neck, pulling in his scent as I did. I felt part of his tension leave. "Just a little shell shocked. I'm ok now."

He pulled away from me to check and I saw Major peering back. Monstress was at the forefront and we tried to reassure our mate that we were fine.

"Has this happened before?" Eleazar asked softly.

"A couple of times. It's ok. I just get overwhelmed and I can't contain my gift." I couldn't explain to Jasper what happened in front of the others. His growls were quieting but I could feel his possessive vibe still front and center. The wreckage I saw in my peripheral would be sufficient enough of an excuse to blame it on my gift for now to the others. I had let loose on the place. There were chairs, tables and the screen where Maria had been on, lying around the room in destruction.

I let out a huge breath, "Shit, I made a mess of things."

"We can deal with that later. She's going to be calling back in forty-five minutes." Peter spoke sharply, pacing. Jasper and Major hissed at him pulling me tighter. Peter probably already figured out what happened to me. Distracting the others to focus on other things would do everyone good.

Forcing my mind to center on what was happening and why the room looked the way it did, I let Jasper pull me up.

"Sure you're ok?" he whispered less frantic.

I put my lips by his ear and whispered I'd tell him later. He nodded and tightened his arms around me before releasing the death grip on me. His hand stayed on my back in possession, reassurance, and protectiveness.

"Do you know where the call came from?" Using my gift I picked up the crap around the room quickly and piled it near the door. Eleazar and Carmen looked on with amazement. Telling someone you can do something and them actually seeing it are two completely different things to chew on.

"We got an exact location. We've tried to contact the remaining unit members. We're still trying." Cheese said. We all knew it was no use, but there was always that slim chance there was someone who survived.

I reached up, flipping on my COM as Sarah left the room to start taking care of matters from Mac's room.

"They said they were dead." I said.

"That doesn't mean they killed them all, you don't know that!" Char snarled. I let it go. I could see the pain etched in her face; I wouldn't begrudge her her hope. No way.

"I want to see what she did." Peter said.

I took a deep breath steadying myself, "Are you sure you want to see that?" I looked at all their faces and they nodded shakily.

Cheese was already on another glass prompt pushing on the glass preparing what we wanted.

The screen flashed then came on showing Maria's ugly mug. The woman was pure evil.

The screen went blank again after and rage filled me, I was able to control it this time.

"The good thing is she doesn't know Alice is dead. We have a chance. I would imagine the jet is being fueled?" Jasper asked.

"No, it's ready now, Major." Mac informed him.

"Do we have time to get there before she calls back?" Jasper asked again. "When did we loose contact with the units?"

"Yes, we have time but not with the teams. We can't just go by ourselves on this and you know it." Char spoke sharply.

"Last contact was 3 hours ago. They check in every three hours or so if there's nothing going on." Mac answered his latter question.

"How many do we have and what do we have in place, do we have maps of the place she's in? Where were the teams when they were taken? Does the jet have the same access that we have here?" Jasper's commanding voice resonated into the walls as he took control.

"There were just the two teams in place. Maria has a mix of both those teams. We can assume what our unit members said in the video is true, she more than likely killed the rest. Yes there is complete access to them onboard the jet. We do have maps where she is; she's a couple hundred miles outside Monclova in the hills. Very dense forest area. Aerial photos don't show much." Mac said going to the map and pushing buttons. We stacked the folders and pictures off to the side as we looked at a terrain map.

"She's here." He said pointing. "Our guys were here, here, and here." Pointing to various places surrounding Maria.

"Do you think they talked?" Eleazar asked and was met with a room full of resounding 'NO's'.

He held his hands up "Ok, ok, I had to ask."

"Our people come from places… they just wouldn't have said anything. The past seer makes sense," Peter said working through what little information our sentries were able to give us.

"They said something about Maria having a gifted member being a 'past-seer'? What do you suppose they mean by that?" Charlotte asked.

"It could mean that's how she knows we have Alice. They can't see that near into the future if that's the case. They don't know Jasper is mated and Alice is dead. Or that the Cullens are dead for that matter. This makes things dangerously precarious. By the time we get to where she wants to meet us, she could know we killed Alice. _If_ that's what's going on and what Carlos was telling us."

"We all know that she's not leaving them alive. We'll have to get to them before the actual meeting."

"Do you need more air support?" Eleazar offered.

"We can't wait that long for you to get transportation." Jasper said gravely.

"They are not far. We came on a private jet. You may take it. It is fueled and ready to fly us back to Alaska, you may use it. We will stay here and help in anyway we can. This is my property; I can defend it if necessary." His immediate willingness to help put him another notch up in my book. We could come back to camp with it run by his people, but my gut told me that wouldn't be the case.

"We would be most grateful for the help. Our other jet is still in the air carrying Emmett and Rose back." Char trailed off as what she said sunk in.

"Oh, fuck. What the hell do we do with them?" Peter asked.

"I will handle it." Eleazar said. "I will not tell them anything until you get back, I can however ease their minds with my being here. They are in my line."

"I have given them protection with me." Jasper said and the unspoken 'do not kill them' hung in the air unsaid. I felt Jasper's uneasiness and assumed it to be that he was second guessing his taking over the protection I had previously given Emmett and Rosalie. I was amused at that and let him know, sharing it along with my pride. To be of one voice with Jasper didn't raise my claws as it usually did when others spoke for me. Being his partner in every way thrilled me. I saw the corner of his mouth twitch in response to my emotions.

"I mean no harm to them. I do not believe that they are a threat to me in any way. I do take your warning to heart Jasper. But I give my word; no harm will come to them." Eleazar looked straight at Jasper and let him know that he was being honest. From what I had seen of Eleazar so far, I didn't think he gave his word too often and when he did, it was given with otherworldly honor.

"They know nothing of the last 36 hours. They will want to know why you are here." Jasper told him.

"I will tell them you called, bringing me here to update us on the situation. I am old, don't forget that. I can tell truths around lies." Eleazar gave a wane smile.

"Ok, then." Jasper said. I trusted that whatever he was reading off Eleazar, Jasper wouldn't agree if he found something suspicious. I truly thought Eleazar wanted to help.

"Sarah?" I asked and she buzzed in my ear that she was listening, "Do we have contact with Nevell, Edward and the others?" Speaking of Emmett and Rose just put to the forefront of my mind that Nevell would need to be coming with us. He wouldn't tolerate or miss another excursion, especially when it involved our own people.

"_Not yet, we sent the chopper out to locate and pick them up. Over_" she responded.

"Thanks, have you contacted Ben yet?"

"_No. His people said he's out of range. Over."_

I looked up at Peter and Mac. Their faces showed the concern I was feeling.

"Tell his people to go out and find them now. Put them on alert. Put everyone we know on alert. We don't know what Maria is capable of, what she's up to, or what she knows. And for that matter we don't know who is all involved. Do you have phone records for me yet?" Mac jumped in instructing Sarah.

"_Copy, on it. And yes, but there's nothing in either camp or anyone's cell phones or internet communications that leads to Maria or anyone she associates with. Over." Sarah replied._

"I want one of those things." Eleazar grinned pointing to his ear. "It looks most useful. When I get back I will have Kate get us some."

"These are specially made; I'll get you some before you leave." Cheese said absently.

"Thank you," Eleazar said gratefully. Ok… not time for social hour.

"Did you do a reverse connect to Maria's phones?" Mac asked Sarah.

"_Yes_," her voice now irritated. "_There have been calls but to her own minions. Nothing out of the ordinary. We're re-checking those phones now. Over_."

"Copy," Mac's voice was apologetic, "Thank you." he said sincerely.

"Your welcome." She sounded mollified.

We were all on edge. Taking it out on each other wouldn't help. It was hard not to be short with one another however. We didn't have anyone else to take it out on. When was Rose getting here? Monstress gave her "_Nuuuufffftttttt_" snort at my inner ramblings.

"Do we have anyone else close to Maria's now?" Jasper asked still studying the map and redirecting our attention to what was important.

"Not really. Zafrina is closer than we are. We can have teams on the ground near there in a matter of hours. It will take us 7 hours to fly down there once aboard the jet."

"Don't call Zafrina until we get word from Maria." Char said and we all agreed.

"We can't let them move in too closely, if Maria gets wind of this she'll kill them instantly." If she detected anyone I was afraid it would be over before it began.

"Maria should be calling back any minute," Cheese informed us, "She'll be on this monitor for Izzy to talk to and we can watch on this one without her seeing us." He said pointing out which ones were which, "I put you on this one because it shows nothing but the cave wall behind you, Izz." I nodded and moved to stand in front of it.

Jasper came to me and held me. "I'm right here with you." My love for him burst from me and he tightened his arms. "Me too baby, me too." and kissed my forehead. He blurred behind the screen just as the prompter whirred to life.

Maria's face once again came up on the prompter. I held my rage at bay, just barely. There was no longer anyone behind her or around her that I could see. I strained my ears to listen, but I couldn't hear any other noises either. Just the same concrete room she was in before with an eerie quiet. Although I expected it, it still sent anxiety through me.

"You will meet me for the exchange at Monclova." She jumped right in with no nonsense. "When you land at the airport, go northwest. You will find our scents at the first canyon opening on Hwy 35, leave your vehicle there and follow it. You may bring one other person besides yourself to help with the transport. If I detect anyone else with you in a twenty-mile radius, I will kill the remaining four. You will meet us in 2 hours at 9:00 am on this day."

"That's impossible. We're not close to you. I want to see my people again." The sharp tenor of my voice lashed at her so venomously, I saw her eye twitch.

"Then they will die." No remorse, no pretension, I knew she'd do it if it wasn't already done.

"It will take me 10 hours to get there from here if I leave this very moment. I am willing to do the exchange but you will have to give me time to get there." I matched her cadence.

She studied me for a moment, "9:00 tonight" and she cut off our link.

Shit! Fuck!

"Let's go, now." Jasper said and we rushed to gather what we needed. I was shaking with adrenaline and my brain raced with what needed to be done and what we needed to take.

Nevell and Edward were in the chopper when it showed up to take us to our private hanger at the airport. Edward's crimson eyes were a bit daunting, but no one commented. At least not out loud. I held Nevell's eyes for minute to make sure he was all right, realizing we held it too long when Jasper rumbled a small growl of warning at Nevell. I sighed. Nevell seemed to be fine and my mate was feeling protectively possessive. The earlier incident left a feeling of vulnerability in both of us. It was for different reasons, but it was still there.

Edward didn't really look at anyone. He rode sitting on the edge of the large door opening, looking out over the valley. I wanted to shake him and tell him to get over it. Char's words came back to me from earlier and I held my indignation to myself.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

Transferring to the private jets took no time. Our sentry did most of it while we were waiting for Maria to call back. We loaded ours minimally and Eleazar's heavily. The plan was made so that we would be switching jets and sending ours to Monclova with decoys. Eleazar's jet however, didn't have the communications we needed, so we rode in ours for the first leg of the trip.

The next four and a half hours it took to fly down to New Orleans was painstakingly tense. We communicated with our tech team for most of the trip, going over plans and ways to surround Maria without her detecting us. Having ghouls would pay off, but the terrain didn't allow for much movement without being seen. A lack of scent or heartbeat wouldn't help with the virtually open terrain.

Calling Zafrina and telling her what was going on was as dramatic as we knew it would be. She agreed to send her jet with part of Jeb's and Jamie's teams, to meet our decoys at Monclova. They would stay hidden and give us back up when and if the time came. There were 8 total coming.

So our four decoys with Nevell and Edward would meet the team of eight coming from Zafrina's. We would take the other 20 vampires and ghouls we had with us. If all worked right, we would be getting to Maria before Nevell and the others even hit the ground. Waiting for them would be dependent on the situation we came up on.

Potrero de Menchaca from the terrain map looked like a huge dry lakebed, surrounded on all sides by scraggly mountains. The flat bottom was about five miles wide and twenty-two miles long. The mouth of the dry riverbed canyon narrowed for a mile or so at the southern entrance before dumping out at Hwy 35, where Maria told us to enter from.

Eleazar's jet would land in a tiny town with a private airstrip about a hundred miles north of the mountains. We could have to move on foot from there. We couldn't get any closer than that without drawing attention to ourselves. Besides that, there was nowhere to land closer anyway.

Then came time to update everyone on what we knew about Maria and her gifted. The three we were aware of anyway.

We explained Aden's gift. His having to touch someone to freeze them played in everyone's favor. We weren't sure, if he got a hold of us, that Jasper and I couldn't use our power against him. It didn't matter as long as we didn't let him touch us.

Charles had similar powers to Jasper. We weren't really worried about him. Peter was used to fighting against Jasper's gift and I was getting used to the feeling of someone else's emotional influence. We didn't figure he would be too much of an obstacle.

Montgomery was more of a concern because he was able to blind his victims. It was similar to Zafrina's gift and just as deadly. You saw nothing but a black abyss. As long as we didn't panic if we were blinded, and used our other senses, we should be fine.

We landed in New Orleans, transferring Nevell and Edward as well as the decoys. Wigs, make-up and clothing were donned by the three willing and eager vampires that would charade as Alice, Jasper, and I once on the ground in Monclova. One other vampire joined them as the extra person Maria said she would allow. Scent wouldn't matter unless Maria herself was at the airport to meet us. That was about as likely as the pope coming to bless are sparkly asses.

We quickly made the exchange to Eleazar's jet, which no one would be looking for, and took off from the hanger. Calling Eleazar's jet purely a private jet was a shame. It was a double-decker airbus. It was huge. The bottom half was for entertaining while the upper deck… was for another sort of entertaining.

As soon as we started taxiing down the runway, Jasper grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the upper half of the jet. There were large extravagant beds with frills and twills along with other scary stuff, being scary only because of the owners. Handcuffs, whips, chains, leather masks, a spanking bench and… holy shit… were those gallows? Kinky much? Though that swing looked fun. Jeez it looked like a Dom's Valentine's Day ultimate wet dream threw up. Pinks and shades of pinks along with white, black and red splashed around the entire space. I guess succubus's traveled prepared. I couldn't believe Eleazar and Carmen put up with it… then the scary thought crossed my mind that maybe this was their idea. I shuddered.

We walked down the center to the end of the jet and on to the only door on this floor, careful not to touch anything. Jasper looked at me, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

OH!

Normal! And a room that somehow didn't smell of stale sex and old blood!

I figured it was Eleazar and Carmen's room, as it was relatively normal. It consisted of one enormous bed with a dark green feather comforter. We both sighed in relief as Jasper pulled me onto it; grabbing and pushing me face down on the crazy soft bed before climbing on top of me.

I heard the faint murmurings of the vampires below us over the TV they were watching. They wouldn't be able to hear much from us up here.

"Tell me," he whispered as he drug his nose down my neck and across my shoulder.

I panted and didn't even pretend to not know what he was talking about, "Monstress enlightened me with another memory." I whispered into the bedding.

Jasper rocked his hips into my ass as his body encompassed mine, trapping me to the bed.

"Yes?" He encouraged.

"She showed me one of her hunting." I didn't want to tell him, but it was the second time Monstress alluded to her and Major's past. It was possible Major had already shown Jasper memories of kits. "A smaller cat, a lynx, killed her…. our… their… kits."

He stopped kissing me as he lost his breath in a whoosh and drew me tightly to his body. I felt his chest rumbling against my back. Rolling us to our sides, he wrapped his leg around both my legs, his arm holding me tightly to his chest.

He was shaking slightly. I tried to twist around as I felt his emotions wash over me. I got my head turned around enough to see his eyes roll into the back of his head. He looked like he was having a seizure. I panicked for a moment, until Monstress began soothing me. I finally got my body twisted around and put my hand on his face. I was mixed up and confused. Monstress wasn't in distress but I was. How was she not worried? Jasper panted and snarled, stuffing me back down into the bed as he shoved his head into the back of my neck, his body weighing me down. I was completely trapped. In another circumstance, I would have been freaking out at the fact that I was unable to move. His arms wrapped around me as he growled, hissed and shook.

I realized Major was taking him down memory lane. I wrenched my arms out enough so that I could turn my body to encompass his. Monstress and I cooed and purred at him as whatever Major showed him flowed through him.

"Jasper," I whispered and purred louder, trying to sooth him. "Jassssper."

He choked and groaned as he came out of the trance.

He instantly pulled his body up slightly and searched my eyes. Our connection was instantaneous and I knew what Major had shown him. Major and Jasper's emotions were displayed for us to see.

"Fuck." He whispered and looked down at our bodies, searching me for injury.

"I'm ok." I purred.

"Fuck!" he said more harshly.

Reaching down between us, he tore at my leather pants and pushed them down. Taking my leather top he pulled and tugged, "I need to feel you."

I nodded and helped him as we pushed and pulled, releasing us of our barriers.

"That was us." he said reverently, "You were hurt after. We lost…"

"Shhh, I know."

"How? How is that possible? I don't understand." his voice filled with frustration and anger.

"Don't know." I wish I did. Monstress gave no answers, no visuals.

"Your mine," he hissed. "He hurt you."

I realized Major's emotions were still raw in Jasper. His need to possess and heal was turning into one of need to claim and reassure. Even though it was several days ago that Jasper had drunk human blood and that Major reappeared, he was still vulnerable in some ways. I realized this was all new for him too.

"I'm fine." I told them. "I'm right here. Show me."

Why I didn't find it completely odd that I was talking to both of them I had no idea, but my sudden need to help reassure my mate and comfort him… give him whatever he needed, rushed through me and I put my inquiries to the side and dove into the moment.

He was soon naked before me as I was for him. He spread my legs by my knees to peer at me before him. I raised my hips for him, taunting him with my slick waiting pussy.

"Pears," he whispered, and I almost laughed, what? Instead I reached down, taking his hard steel cock in my hand, and guiding him to my wet throbbing need.

As soon as he entered me, he pushed forward, filling me.

I sucked in a breath as my eyes rolled into my head.

"So beautiful." He sighed and I forced my eyes open to see him staring at where his cock pierced deeply into me. His body, full of tension, loomed over me, becoming the only thing in the room as our bubble of heaven sucked us in.

Pushing my hips up and grabbing him with my inner muscles I pulled him in further still.

"Fuck yes." Gasping, his words barely etched the air.

"That's it." I encouraged as he began to rock slowly.

It didn't take long for the friction to create an overpowering heat between us.

"So good." His pace sped and I bit down, grinding my teeth together in an effort to not whimper. We did have an audience after all. Engulfing me by laying fully on my body, I wrapped my legs around him and dug them into his ass. Tucking his arms under me, he pulled me against him and soon there was no space between us.

Whispering against my ear how good it felt to fuck me, his lips were like mere butterfly wings.

"Jas, please."

"You're everything. You're MINnnnneee." He hissed to my plea.

I buried my head into his neck and pulled in his scent until it all but devoured me. Wrapping my arms around him, I dug my claws into his shoulders, pulling him impossibly tighter.

"Miinnnneeee." I declared my claim.

We rocked together, increasing our pace as we built to that inevitable crescendo. It was the closest to making love we had come. It wasn't the fast feral blood curdling claiming it had been to this point, but the animalistic feel was still there. I bared my teeth and clipped my claiming scar with them. I felt him shudder and he rotated his hips into me, hitting a new spot as his pace quickened yet again.

"fuuuuuuck, Jasssper." He ran his lips down my neck as I arched against him.

So close.

As I was sure he felt me near the edge, he pulled back slightly and lifted my chest to his mouth and sucked my nipple, giving me just enough of his teeth to send me over and beyond. Clamping my teeth together and turning my head, I burrowed into the pillows to muffle my cries of ecstasy.

My muscles demanded his climax and with a strangled cry he gave it to me.

Panting, he lowered himself to me as I unclenched my fingers from him, wrapping him in my arms.

I wanted time to slow down so we could figure this out. I wanted to be able to talk to him without an audience and dig into what we really knew, share our experiences with one another. Since the moment I had seen Jasper standing in the command room, Monstress was rarely quiet. She was more vocal as of late with more to share than ever before, but never enough. I wanted to know if it was the same for Jasper. I wanted to know more about the Major. I wanted to share Monstress with him. Our stolen moments together were wonderful, but I was so greedy for more.

I wondered if there was a way to stop time for everyone but us. To stop and melt into each other, not having to join the real world until we knew all there was to know.

Jasper's purr lulled me as I lay under him, feeling completely protected.

"I love you, Isabella," his voice was as deep as the tidal wave of emotion coming from him.

"I love you, Jasper," my voice husky.

I pulled back to find him gazing at me as I was him. Touching his cheek lightly with my fingers, the emotion took on a feel of ancientness. It felt as if I had known this man for millennia's instead of time that could be counted in hours. The questions on my lips slowly dissipated along with the necessity to ask them. As I watched his eyes turn darker I knew he was feeling it too. I took a gasping breath as he let me feel the extent of what I was seeing. His breath came rushing out as it felt like our very souls touched and intertwined. It truly did, in that moment, feel as though time stood still for us. Instead of asking questions and pondering our quandary, we remained silent, saturating ourselves in each other.

I was aware of nothing else but the man, the beast that began to rock my body with only his hips as he stared into my eyes. Pushing himself up onto his elbows to gaze at me, my fingertips moved down his cheek, slowly skimming his jaw and explored that sharp line to his neck. I never took my eyes off his.

My middle finger traced my mating scar on his neck and his eyes darkened with my emotions of claim. I traced his collarbone with my thumb, outlining his scars down his chest.

His hips drove his cock deeper into my wet need with the reverence of a mate pleasing his desired. Reaching his nipple, I circled it, bringing it to an instant hardness then taking it between my fingers. I squeezed, his sharp inhale of breath letting me know how much he enjoyed it. His mouth opened in a pant as I repeated the action.

My hips met his as I tilted my pelvis up, creating new friction and warmth between us. I could feel every nuance of him inside me. I felt the swollen head of his cock against my walls as it thrust in and out slowly. The ridges and veins brushed and glided on nerve endings sending small currents of pleasure through my body.

I shook with the passion that threaded through us, between us, weaving us together body and soul with its hidden magic.

As we reached higher for that abyss together, I ran my hands down his back to his ass, drawing him closer still. Feeling the muscles gathering and releasing under my fingertips, I couldn't hold back the moan that escaped my chest.

My muscles spasmed and contracted around his cock, making him thrust harder. Leaning slowly forward, his lips met mine and I drew him in, opening my mouth. Venom mixed and with his taste overpowering me, I fell… taking him with me.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+)

Dressing in our leathers after a much-needed shower, we filled them this time with arsenal. Knives in boots, on my back, across my chest, and on my hip went my katana. Jasper re-braided my hair to which I chuckled. He explained he used to do it for his younger sister when he was human. I smiled at the picture it conjured.

Turning me around, he kissed me long and lingered before we parted and went to join the others. No one said anything as we entered. There was a flagrant tension in the air of our upcoming mission. Peter wiggled his eyebrows at us but other than that no one made mention of our activities. It probably wouldn't have gone well if they had. For the most part we were all aware of such activities amongst us. Especially Peter and Char. They weren't ones to hide their passion. Everyone knew how much those two loved each other. They weren't the only ones by far.

Our pilot came on and told us we were waiting for permission to land. Zafrina sent some of her troops to meet us. If things went according to plan, Nevell and the others wouldn't have much to do once they landed.

We were war painted up just as always on a mission. There was no one around.

We slipped out the doors into the setting sun. Turning on our COM's and checking in with Cheese and Steffania, we blurred across the desert to the foothills entering the valleys behind where Maria should be waiting for us. Jasper picked up Maria's scent almost immediately, telling us it was strong, fresh even. That was bothersome. We sent four vampires to track the scent back behind us where it trailed off. From the tacks in the ground we couldn't tell if they were coming or going. There were too many rocks they could step on and leap from. The sand told us nothing.

We raced south as the sun dipped behind the rocky ridges to the west, hiding us further into the shadows.

Spreading out thirty miles from where we suspected Maria and her entourage to be, we began to form a semi circle, spreading out in pairs about 3 miles wide. Jasper and I brought up the center as we gained ground on our targeted area.

Communicating with the others, we slowed fifteen miles out.

Ten miles out we stopped.

Monstress was snorting and grimacing inside me, rolling her fur against the inside of my skin. She didn't like this. I glanced at Jasper and raised a brow. He sent me the same uneasy emotion I was feeling. Something just felt off and we both felt it.

Whispering we were moving forward as Cheese let us know that Nevell and the others were an hour out from landing.

Jasper and I crested the last ridge overlooking the dry lakebed and quickly ducked behind a boulder. I was surprised we hadn't seen anyone yet. The other pairs hadn't either. The boulder we now hid behind was saturated with the scent of an unfamiliar vampire. Jasper met my eyes and then crept to the edge of the rock. I slid to the opposite side and peered around it. The ridge dropped gradually into a deep dry bed. To the west side, lying in the shadows was a makeshift building of some sort. It looked odd out in the middle of nowhere. It was concrete, but somehow seemed to blend into the surroundings. There was no roof. It looked like one of those houses you see on old Mexican westerns.

The breeze shifted sheets and fabric lazily as it whispered across and through the windows and doors of the place.

No movement whatsoever could be seen from our vantage point.

"Peter, check." I whispered.

"_Check. I got nothin'_." He whispered.

"Ditto." I told him.

"I've got a bad feeling. I can't tell what… but something is off." He whispered frustrated. Peter never knew when he would get his little 'just-know-it' feelings.

The others checked in with the same account that they didn't detect anything. It was possible Maria already moved out to the rendezvous point, but I had a feeling that wasn't the case.

"Izzy and I are checking it out, follow us in." Jasper commanded. Jasper and I moved as one as we blurred across the rocky sloping grade of the valley wall.

We stopped 50 yards out. Monstress was panting as we smelled the lingering incense in the air as the breeze shifted to us. I held my growl in and followed closely as Jasper crept even closer, finding another rock pile to hide behind. There was no sound coming from the little house, only the wisp and snap of fabric from the windows stirred.

Jasper caught my eye and I nodded, we rushed the last 20 yards and burst into the empty dwelling. Nothing.

The walls were bare. No furniture. Nothing.

Bits of ash binding lay on the floor and I bent down to pick them up, the scent identifying Carlos as the owner of the fibers. Turning around slowly as I stood, I saw the camera they used sitting on a tripod in the corner of the room. Jasper walked across the sandy floor to get a look at it. He turned shaking his head; it was empty of anything of use.

We heard the others draw near outside.

"It's clear," I informed them.

Peter and Char came in.

"We follow their trail out of here." Peter said and turned to leave.

"Do you get a feeling of more?" Jasper asked him.

Peter shook his head, scowling.

We took off in pairs, following Maria's scent as it continued south down the canyon.

The canyon valley was long and wide. The four we sent to follow the other scent trails called in to report that the trail ended abruptly. Jasper instructed them to follow us in.

I could see our other party on the side of the canyon walls as Jasper and I ran straight down the middle. We figured if Maria spotted us, having Jasper seen first would be a good thing. At the very least it would make her pause before she attacked. We guessed it would do more than that.

Jasper suddenly stopped dead in his tracks as Peter swore loudly in our ears.

"_She's fucking gone_!"

Alarm shot through me setting my skin to prickle.

"What?"

"_Keep going we're coming down_." Peter snapped.

We took off in a blur as we watched Peter and the others come from the hills meeting us two hundred or so yards further.

Monstress and I screamed furiously at what lay before us.

The sandy ground was swept and blown away around us. We stood in the middle of what our eyes knew as markings from chopper blades. We didn't have to smell the metallic scent to know what we were seeing.

I paced back and forth on the dry wind swept canyon floor. Their fresh scents were gone. They had been picked up by at least 2 choppers. The blades from the choppers made enough disarray you couldn't tell for sure if it was more than two, but from the wide birth of destruction it was at least two. We picked up at least a dozen or so more scents as we ran here, besides Maria, Carlos and Deni's. I wasn't sure about how many the others had scented in the hills.

They were all gone.

Did they see us coming? Did the 'past seer' or whatever the fuck they were warn Maria? Did they get a vision of us killing Alice? Or Jasper and I together? Or was it something else.

The trail of Carlos and Deni disappeared as well but there weren't any signs of fire, and I didn't smell the tell tale sign of ash here. They could still be alive.

Two out of our twelve.

I wanted to scream.

I stopped pacing and stood still. I felt the wind brush against me lightly as if it were trying to soothe my heart.

We hadn't been in time. We fucked up.

I grieved for those we lost and let the wind try and take my sorrow. Being emo wasn't going to change what was done. What had been done. I felt my spine straighten and let the strength of my words wash through me. No emo or angst. I could feel power building within me. I took a deep breath and let it out, slowly feeling the human elixir race through my veins, encouraging me, taunting me with its influence.

I heard Peter tell the others to all back off and I heard my mate growl, I felt the warmth in the rhythm of his disagreement and rejection of Peter's advisement. I felt him as he came to stand in front of me.

I felt the vibrations of the ground as Peter and Char led the team further south away from me.

I let go when I felt them far enough away. It had been too long. Char knew it too; we had only just this morning been talking about stretching our legs.

I heard Jasper gasp and take a step closer to me as I let loose.

I felt every rock, every bush, and every cactus, down to the very grains of sand as I became one with them. I let the command of my gift flow through and out of me as I controlled my immediate surrounding. I felt Jasper step even closer to me and I smiled at him without opening my eyes. I felt him relax just slightly.

I picked up what I could feel and spun them, unleashing fully.

I made the rocks dance, the trees drag and dredge the canyon floor. I made the sand whisper and stream through the air in long ribbons of white fire.

Then I let out the grief, the pain and the anger.

Jasper gasped again, but I didn't let anything touch us.

I made the sand absorb my trendles of rage. I let the rocks take the blunt of my hate. The bushes and trees took from me my grief. I tipped my head back and screamed my fury.

… And they took that too.

The air came out of my lungs as I controlled the flow that ruptured from me.

Then I put it all back. I replaced every rock, every brush, cactus and every grain of sand to its place until it was all still again.

Utter peace. I felt so much relief.

I slid my eyes open to see that Jasper's face matched the emotions I felt from him. One of utter and complete awe.

"Do I scare you?" I breathed.

His eyes snapped to mine. "How did you do that?"

"My gift." I simply told him.

"Yes, but how did you _do_ that?"

I cleared the venom from my throat and shrugged a shoulder and looked everywhere but him, "It's a part of the telekinesis. If I let my senses go I can… um… it's as if I can connect to my surroundings. I can feel everything." I shrugged again. I didn't use my gift as often as I should. It more than overwhelmed me at times. I rarely tapped into it to the extent that I just had. Having the senses that came with being a vampire was more than enough to overload me at times. Throw in the telekinesis and I often thought it went a little overboard on what I was capable of. If I was being truthful, it down right scared me sometimes. It was one of the reasons I trained so hard with Josh. I didn't want to rely on something I was so unsure of.

"It was amazing." He shook his head. "I'm at a loss for words, darlin'."

"That makes two of us cowboy," I smiled weakly. I opened my mouth to tell him how it feels and Peter's voice scratched into my ear.

"_If you guys are done_." Peter's voice interrupted me, reminding us that we still had our COM's on.

Jasper cleared his throat, "Did you guys find anything?"

"_No, let's meet at the jet. Nevell and the others just landed_."

"Copy." Jasper and I said together and we took off south, following our comrade's scents.

(+=+=+=+=+=+)

**A/N**

**Rec's this week… **

**Feral Blood**** by The Joker's Daughter ~ Great Carlisle and Bella story! Carlisle is wicked hot!**

**Going Under For the Third Time**** by busymommy ~ Can't beat a angsty surfer Jasper!**

**And for those of you who have never been to ****The Lemonade Stand**** go check that out!**

**Seriously there is some hot hot hot stuff in there!**

Tehlemonadestand (dot) blogspot (dot) com

**Huge thanks again to Savage Grace and her paper ****Jasper & Bella Online****! Go see it! There's some good rec's in there and she updates it everyday.**

**Leave some love!**

**I'm sick this week and haven't even really started the next chapter... so no sneak previews ... sorry :( **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N**

**Sorry for the delay. But shit happens, ya know?**

**Thanks to wonderful Betas Bripearl and now Letusdance. I'm looking forward to working with Letusdance and continued meeting of minds with Bripearl. **

**Ok.. just read. See you at the bottom**

**I don't own it SM does... I only own Izzy's Monstress :)**

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_Previously;_

_I rarely tapped into it to the extent that I just had. Having the senses that came with being a vampire was more than enough to overload me at times. Throw in the telekinesis and I often thought it went a little overboard on what I was capable of. If I was being truthful, it down right scared me sometimes. It was one of the reasons I trained so hard with Josh. I didn't want to rely on something I was so unsure of. _

"_It was amazing." He shook his head. "I'm at a loss for words, darlin'."_

"_That makes two of us cowboy," I smiled weakly. I opened my mouth to tell him how it feels and Peter's voice scratched into my ear._

"_If you guys are done." Peter's voice interrupted me, reminding us that we still had our COM's on. _

_Jasper cleared his throat, "Did you guys find anything?"_

"_No, let's meet at the jet. Nevell and the others just landed." _

"_Copy." Jasper and I said together and we took off south, following our comrade's scents._

**(=+=+=+=+=+)**

**~ Rucker's~**

**~Izzy POV~**

We were taken entirely by darkness before we got to the base of the dry lakebed. The purple blackness enveloped the desert floor making shadows amongst shadows. Jasper and I didn't speak as we jumped, dodged and sprinted into the cooling night. Before we came out of the dry lakebed Jasper slowed to a stop, gaining my attention with a grab of my arm.

He motioned for me to turn off my COM as he told Peter where we were and that we'd be out of contact for a minute. Before Peter could protest, he clicked his COM off as well.

"I have an idea." His eyes danced enticingly with excitement.

I raised a brow, amused, and waited for him to elaborate.

"We take them now, ." he stated matter of factly.

"Who?" I say, raising my hands and looking around at the empty vastness surrounding us.

He chuckled at my confusion with his proclamation.

"When ya'll showed me the maps of Maria's territory, it showed her enemies as well. We could take over now, make this ours." He said like I was slow on catchin' his drift. I can truly that say I was a little lost.

"Okay." I said drawing it out and my brain started going a million miles an hour. He began to laugh at my expression when my brain finally caught up to his words. If I was right, I knew where he's going with this and a bubble of excitement started to spread through me.

"Why don't we make her enemies our allies? It's the perfect time. They want to kill her just as much as we do, and would be more willing to help us now verses later down the line." He said returning the salacious grin that was now plastered on my face.

"Oh, I think that's a lovely idea. There are enough of us, so we can split up and hit several places." My voice betraying the growing enthusiasm, "There's a bar actually about a hundred and seventy miles from here, further south, that's said to be the go to place if you need something. We can hit that first." My mind flew with the possibilities, "We can get word out and could even attract Maria's attention."

"It could bring out Maria sooner rather than later if she knows we're taking her territory without her around or taking her out directly." Jasper nodded and I could see from the look in his eyes that he was already thinking about that.

I was getting into this more and more, "She'll come to us rather than us trying to hunt her down."

"Exactly." Jasper said as I hit the nail on the head, "I've been thinkin' about this 'Past Seer'. It's obvious Maria was planning on meeting us by the looks of it. It took us a day to get down here and they didn't leave too far ahead of us. I think we have at least 3 to 4 days where the 'seer' can't see us, granting she 'saw' that we killed Alice and it wasn't something else that made them leave. We'll make it 3 days to be on the safe side. I don't know or understand how this person sees the past or how their power works exactly. It seems strange that Maria knew about Alice being kidnapped and who took her, but not about our mating. She didn't give a hint of it, but then again we're talking about Maria. She could have easily covered up her knowledge of it, but judging by her behavior, I don't think that was the case. I think it's more of a hit and miss thing, and Maria made some rash decisions knowing her sire was in trouble.

If we can get everyone we can to assemble within the next couple of days and make a rendezvous point we can in the very least announce our taking over Maria and her territory and establish ourselves down here. "

"Everyone meaning everyone here in the south?" I asked.

"Yes, her enemies are our allies." And his accompanying smile was vicious.

"We can get phone numbers from those who can communicate mobily and text them later as to where to meet. Word of mouth will have to take care of the rest. I don't understand this 'past seer' either. If it hadn't been for our sentry blurting it out before Maria got to him, I wouldn't believe it. I would think it was more they had a spy then someone gifted." I said, tapping my fingers on my chin and looking off into the darkness, thinking of all the benefits of this plan as well as what Maria really had hidden behind closed doors.

"Yes, good. Going with the theory she really has a 'seer' and if this 'seer' works like Alice to any degree then they won't be able to pick up thoughts, only the words we speak and actions we accompany them with. We'll have to be careful. We won't know what they will or will not pick up." Jasper added.

I agreed, "We can ask Peter what he feels about this," trying to figure out where and when and how we'd pull this off.

"She'll know what you're capable of now that you've shown me what your gift can do." he frowned and I shrugged.

"There's more to it than what I just did, and even if she did, it's too late now to worry about it. It's something we can talk about soon."

He narrowed his eyes and I smiled at him once again, being thwarted to the complete knowledge of my gift and all the possibilities it held. "If you think about it…" I shrugged again. I'm not saying it out loud and he caught onto that and scowled but sent me a brief flash of understanding.

"I thought getting rid of Alice would save us some of this shit. Too bad this," he lifted my claw from my chest, "doesn't seem to work on this 'seer'."

I sighed, pursing my lips grudgingly. "We'll just have to work around it." I looked up into his eyes, searching for any doubt that this is the way we'd go. Once we start this we won't be able to back out.

There was none. He stood sure and ready as I'd ever seen him. I leaned up and gave him a slow sensual kiss, pulling back when my hormones were about to climb on top of him and start having some personal time with his body.

I flicked my ear to turn my COM back on and Jasper did the same, grabbing my hand as we continued out of the canyon.

Jumping the fenced enclosure of the airport once we got to the outskirts of Monclova, Jasper and I didn't waste time as we headed straight into the jet. Peter was already talking to Mac on the video COM. Char was by his side, Edward and Nevell standing further in the jet watching and scowling at the turn of events.

"-have any idea. There are no records of Maria having helicopters. For her to have disappeared doesn't make sense!" Mac was yelling through gritted teeth and his voice vibrated around us with his irritation. Hearing the irritation in his voice, I knew it was more directed at himself for letting us all be duped than it was to Peter who he was having a stare down with. It wasn't his fault, there's only so much you can do. "Someone outside her realm picked her up. How she got word to them so quickly, we don't know. We didn't pick up any communication that this was going to happen. Our information on her is current, up until our guys were taken. Nothing of the sort was ever relayed to us." Mac sounded scattered and just as frustrated as we all felt.

"We could have just been set up. It's not your fault." Peter told him and tried to mollify Mac, but it wasn't working.

"It doesn't matter." Jasper said jumping in and turning their attention to him, "We take this opportunity to make something of it."

"What are you thinkin', Jasper?" Peter turned to him quickly with an instant knowing smile. Fucker knows. Even if he doesn't know he still knows. Mac looked on with interest and I think he would be willing to do anything to turn this around.

"She's gone. We know from the smells we just encountered that we have little hope of stopping her from killing the last survivor." Jasper said quietly.

"Yes, Carlos is gone." Peter affirmed our fears and hung his head as he fisted his hands.

"You just know? Or you found something?" I asked. Is there something we missed?

"I just know." Peter says lifting his head, his face grim. We stood in silence for a few minutes in honor of the fallen. I know everyone in the hanger had heard Peter tell us this. I was calmer this time as was Monstress. I think deep down I already knew after what we found and scented at that house out there that whatever happened, happened quickly and without second thought. I took a shaky breath in and released harshly.

Jasper hadn't let go of my hand and he squeezed it in support. Without looking at him I sent him my gratitude and love, which he returned along with a dose of tranquility throughout the hanger. My next breath wasn't as shaky.

Jasper brought us back from our mourning, "Right now, we have no information or way to follow her. Correct?" we looked at Mac as he grimly shook his head. "So this is what we do. We split up, get word out to anyone who will listen that The Major is in town, and he wants his day of reckoning."

"You're thinking we can take them? The Major for the most part is considered a myth by the best standards down there. The ones who believe he exists at all are terrified of you." Mac asked skeptically at the same time Peter did a fist bump.

"No, not take them, _convert_ them. Do some talkin' first. Maria's enemies should be our allies. This is ours now. Even if they don't believe the Major exists, they'll show up to see what's going on with someone claiming to be him. There will be enough people there that even if they are afraid, they'll think there's power in numbers." What he said fully hit Mac and the others and soon everyone's grins matched our own.

It was perfect timing. There was no sense in chasing ghosts. Maria was gone, and until we got word from our sources as to a possible place they went, there was no sense running around with our heads chopped off. I could hear the ruckus outside begin as preparations were being made for our departure by our vampires unloading the cargo hold.

"Oh, yes. We don't need to kill her to take her." Peter said, "This is the perfect opportunity to take what's going to be ours anyway."

"When do our people from Zafrina's come in?" I asked, turning back to Mac.

"Right now. They should be landing as we speak." Mac said looking at something off camera.

"We'll separate into groups and hit everyone we can get to in the next couple of days. From the scents we encountered she had to have left in the last couple of hours, we couldn't have missed her by much. Meaning her 'past seer' can't be able to see that near into the past if she didn't know the happenin's this past week until today. That gives us a few days drop on her." Jasper repeated from our conversation alone.

"At least 3 if not 4 days for sure." Peter nodded in agreement. "It seems to be either really sporadic, or the 'seer' isn't telling Maria everything, or the 'seer' is so new and they don't know how to use their power. I'm leaning towards the latter. I don't think the 'seer' knows enough about their gift to navigate it so Maria knows what she needs or how to get what she needs."

I blinked at his convoluted rambling, but I think I caught what he was trying to say.

"I think we need to get her leading enemies all together as one and talk to them. They need to see that the Major is really alive and well. Get every cell phone or any communication information you can when you talk to anyone who's willing to come. We only gather those in charge. We won't be so stupid to think they won't bring back up, but make sure they know this only a meeting. On the end of the second or third day we'll text where to meet and when."

"Is that enough time to get to everyone?" Char asked.

Peter is grinning like a fool. "Oh, yeah, this will work. They won't be happy about it, but it's going to put a huge buzz out and everyone's going to be curious. The big guns will come." He paused and narrowed his eyes at Jasper. Jasper looked at him impassively, waiting for the next thing that 'know-it-all' Peter would tell us. "The meetin' is going to have some surprises, and the two of you are going to get a shock somewhere along the line."

"Could you be more vague if you wanted? Well, it'll make it more interestin', and I can't say I'm surprised." Jasper tells him and grins.

"They'll spread the word if we hit the main gossipy holes. We should meet with as many as we can face to face, but we're going to have to depend on them getting everyone they know of together. There's too much land to cover with no air support down here." Peter chuckles.

"Let's go!"

"Wait!" Char yelled and everyone stopped and turned to her, "We have guests back home. What do we tell them?"

Oi.

"You know what, right now we don't have time to deal with Rose and Emmett. Mac?" I turned to the monitor as he gave me his attention; "Fill in Eleazar on what we're doing. Even if he's yankin' our chain it won't matter at this point. I have a feeling he isn't, but it doesn't matter. He's been with them for a bit now; it's not fair for them not to know or for him to hold the information from them. I say we just let Eleazar tell them if that's what he feels he needs to do."

"I'm with Izzy. I want to be there to see the proverbial shit hit the fan, but we got bigger fish to fry." Char snickered.

"I'll get on filling in Eleazar. I think you're making the right choice. Eleazar's about to pull his well groomed hair out with Rose anyway. He's held true to his word on keepin' quiet. I'll let him know to handle the situation as he sees fit." Mac nodded.

If only we were a fly on the wall during that conversation, eh?

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

I sat sipping my whiskey and scanning the bar we were in. I can't say I wasn't impressed and a little taken with the place. I knew these places for our kind existed, but before now, hadn't stepped foot near one.

Jasper sat next to me in the booth, looking for all intents and purposes as relaxed as a baby. I knew differently, if the bond we shared was any indication of the whirlwind of emotions flowing through him. His black cowboy hat Peter had handed to him before we all separated was pulled low over his eyes as he took the place in.

Every once in a while, he would stiffen and let out a low growl as one of the patrons walked too closely or too slowly past us. I wasn't much better, but from what I could hear around the room we weren't the only ones who warned off advancing unwanted attention.

I can't imagine what ran through their minds as we had walked in looking for all the world like a couple of bounty hunters or vigilantes. We turned a few heads that's for sure, which made Jasper's hackles rise instantly. He had wrapped his body around mine as much as he could to conceal me from onlookers as we made our way to the back left wall in the darkest recesses of the place and found an empty booth to place our asses.

I took another sip of whiskey and let the flavour roll around on my tongue as I savored the sugary barley and oak cask taste washing through my mouth. Of course it was impossible for a vampire to drink any true amount of alcohol or to get drunk. It was hard to get a dhampir or ghoul drunk but it could be done. I was envious of Nevell for being able to tip back a few pints and feel its affects. As it was, I loved to sip it. You could taste the grains and barley, even the earth it came from down to the oak casks it matured in. It was quite pleasant. Retching it back up wasn't however, and I didn't drink more than a glass here or there because of that fact. My body wouldn't absorb it and it would slosh in my gullet until I forced it from my body. Nasty bit that. I just liked to taste it. But I digress.

Before leaving the jet, we'd split up into groups after Josh and the gang from Zafrina's arrived. Jasper and I headed south to this vampire bar. It was a well-known tough and tumble place that held its reputation highly regarded in the vampire world. If you wanted someone dead, eaten, tortured, or just to disappear, this was the place to go. We took only 5 vampires with us, splitting the rest between Char and Peter, Nevell and Edward, Josh and Jamie, and Tia and Bruce.

Mac switched our COM's so we were linked only with each of our individual groups. Mac's team would be telling us what was going on with the other groups. Jasper and our group got Sarah, Mac would be communicating with Peter and Char, and Steffania would handle Josh and Jamie and Cheese communicated with Nevell and Edward and so on.

The plan was to go to the most public places and spread the word. Jasper and my job specifically was to make it public and known that the Major was in town.

The chance of Maria finding out was high, which was what we wanted. A two for one if you will. The pay off was too good not to do it this way. In the end it was also decided that if Maria did show up, her public execution would be a huge bonus.

That's how we had found ourselves sitting in this booth at Rucker's. Two of our back up was sitting across the room diagonally from us in a similar booth. The other 3 waited outside for shit to happen in the tree line surrounding the place. We were out in the middle of nowhere it seemed, in the mountains of Sierra Los Picachos. The nearest town was 75 miles away as the crow flies. Rucker's was nestled up against and at the base of one of the many towering ridges of the Picachos.

Coming up on the place, we realized this was going to be a bit tricky. From the outside, it was unassuming looking. Someone had taken an old Mayan ruin and transformed it into a preternatural bar for any of those brave enough to enter. The bouncer, who made us check in our knives and Katana's at the door, Danny, made sure we knew that inside the vast walls of Rucker's was a 'no violence' policy. He also told us no feeding on premises. Curious.

As we'd entered, it was obvious we were going to have our hands full. The place was a huge open warehouse on the inside; the outside had been very much deceiving. Old world hid the new world. For the most part it seemed to be a pretty laid back atmosphere. Every preternatural creature I could think of, minus the giants of recent finding, mingled and traversed amongst each other. Flowing conversation danced with a soft hum of chatter and feel of old camaraderie in the soft glow of old kerosene lamps hung high above our heads. Jasper said it was a pretty mellow vibe considering the fact there were at least 170 people in the place.

Running the length of the far right wall was a bar with five bartenders, three ghouls and two vampires, serving drinks to the patrons and filling orders to the seven waitresses who weaved in and out of the crowd with quick efficiency. High tables with stools scattered around between the booths against the wall and the dance floor in the middle of the room.

I was surprised to see that some of the booths, which took up the west and north walls, had curtains drawn in front of them creating visual privacy. Noises of pleasure quickly let anyone know what was going on behind the curtain. Each booth was set up so anyone could have such privacy. Sex, alcohol and overwhelming scents of our peers morphed into my nose making it almost impossible to decipher one from another. I'd been in human bars before, but this place was surreal.

Low jazz drifted over the crowd, softening the touches of harsh spoken words and loud laughter. There were no pretenses here. For the most part everyone got along at human pace except for the bartenders and waitresses. But no one held back what he or she truly was. To my surprise there were even a few humans mixed in the lot. I suppose that was what the warning at the door had meant. I couldn't even imagine what would happen if spilt human blood were to suddenly fill the air. Chaos and mayhem I'm sure.

I lifted the glass again to my lips, whispered "Anything", and took another swig.

We were waiting for the owner of the place, Shadow Rucker, to show his face. Figuring it was easiest to go to the source and feel our way from there, we'd been waiting patiently for him to make his nightly rounds for two hours. If our sources were right, he should be here anytime. Mac showed us pictures of those we should be on the look out for as possible contacts. All but Rucker. He seemed to live up to his name when it came to anyone taking his picture. We had a descent description of him however, and so far no one matched the criteria.

"_Nothing_," came the voices of the five who were with us into my earpiece. I let out a sigh and looked over to Jasper. His hand brushed up my leg as he leaned into me, letting his fingers roam my upper leather clad thigh.

"If someone doesn't show up soon I'm going to have to draw those curtains, darlin'," his eyes met mine and I felt the heat wash through me as I pulled his scent into my being.

"We could pull them anyway," I murmured and felt his lust spike, making my back arch slightly in anticipation.

"_I doona need to be hearin' that shit_," Came Ivan's Scottish brogue into me ear as I was leaning in to capture Jasper's bottom lip in mine. As Jasper moaned Ivan groaned his protest, "_Give it a rest ya blasted…._" Ivan's voice filtered off into a muttered language I didn't know. Gaelic? I laughed as I released Jasper's lip and then sighed knowing full well playtime would have to wait.

Jasper leaned his forehead to my bare shoulder and groaned, "This place is filled with so much lust I can't think straight."

"Can't you change that?" I whispered into his hair.

"And catch unwanted attention? And make them what? All go to sleep? Nah, I'll be a' right." I felt his fingers graze my center before he drew his hand away, giving off a sigh of his own and making me shudder.

At the far end of the bar was a door leading back further into the place, and as Jasper and I pulled our heads up, I caught sight of our target. I don't know how I knew it was him, but something about him just screamed it. He was huge and so dark that there was no possible way he couldn't be Shadow from the description we had. I understood immediately where he got his name. His features were prominent, but somehow held some kind of shadow to them. His whole presence did if I was honest. It was like seeing a ghost. He wore a white button up oxford shirt and against his black skin was such a contrast I thought maybe that was why he seemed so sharp and defined but blurred around the edges. His bald head shone and glinted in the reflecting lights, his huge biceps filled his shirt to almost bursting and reminded me a lot of Emmett. Simple black tailored slacks and a black belt completed the ensemble.

"Game time," I whispered, "North end of the bar." I was given affirmatives from the two vampires closest to him as he walked around to the front of the bar stopping to chat with one of the bartenders. Our two back ups were two booths in from where Shadow entered and now stood.

When Jasper and I first walked into the place, everyone had taken a gander at us. I can't imagine why. We did truly look like something out of the movies toting our leathers and Jasper in his cowboy hat, the skin that was showing on both of us covered in battle scars; we screamed bounty hunters or some kind of militant vigilantes. We'd turned (removed a) more than a few heads and hushed whispers spread as we walked through as to who we were and what the fuck we were doing here. The speculations had eventually quieted, but you could still feel slight anticipation in the air. Jasper had jolted anyone who dared approach us with a bit of fear and everyone left us alone, but we were watched like hawks. All waiting for something unexpected to happen or to see who we were after.

So I wasn't surprised when Rucker turned his head to us at something the bartender obviously said. We had caught the attention of the staff as well to no one's surprise.

Rucker nodded to whatever the ghoul was saying before turning his attention back to the conversation.

"He's wary and a whole lot curious, and if I'm right, we won't have long to wait for him to make it over to us." Jasper breathed, making sure only our guys and I could hear.

"_You wan' us closer, boss_?" Ivan asked.

"No, you're good. You might have to clear a path if this shit goes wrong, maybe set up post closer to the door," Jasper replied to him as we watched Rucker start to make a huge arc around the room, stopping to talk to customers as he went. Everyone seemed quite at ease with his attention and presence in the room. That was a good sign, but bad for us if he didn't like what we had to say.

"_Copy_," Ivan and Cherish got up from their booths and meandered toward the front entrance making a little chit chat here and there with people as they went.

Rucker stopped two booths down from us now and Monstress stirred up in me, giving the added support she seemed to think I needed. I let my senses flow out so I could feel every atom of the place, letting it become a part of me.

Watching Rucker in my peripheral, I could sense that the vampire coming our way wasn't new to this life in any way, shape, or form. I could see scars on the small parts of skin he allowed to show and for some reason that made me relax somewhat instead of raising my hackles. This I knew. This I was comfortable with. A fellow warrior.

In the beginning it was hard for me to guess how old vampires I've met were. The more I met however, the more I was able to pick up tell tale signs of age. From un-dropped dialect to the way the older ones seemed to carry themselves. It wasn't so much about the confidence they all seemed to have but a deep seeded knowledge their entire beings exuded the older they got. You just can't fake that kind of ethereal aura for lack of a better way to explain it. I would say this guy was at least two hundred years old. He was older when he was changed, maybe 30 if I had to guess.

I took another sip from my whiskey as Jasper was setting his tumbler down and we waited, listening to the guy make small talk with three dhampirs in the next booth over. I could feel Jasper's anticipation and apprehension through the bond and I gently reached over, squeezing his thigh, thinking he was nervous about this first contact meeting. I brought my hand back up to the table. Jasper's forearms rested on the edge of the table as mine did now, playing with our tumblers of whiskey as we waited.

Rucker finally made it to our table and stood prominently in front of us taking us in, "Hello, how are you two this evening, have you everything you need?" Rucker's voice was a deep baritone and matched his huge frame and tall stature. Ruddy eyes swept over Jasper and then me and back to Jasper quickly taking our measure. I held in my snicker as his eyes flare minutely but held his pose of ease as he got a good up close look at our scars and outfits.

"My mate and I are quite fine thank you." Jasper gave a quick nod of his head to the man and if Rucker took offense at Jasper's gruff shortness he didn't show it. Something stirred in my chest when he instantly introduced me as his mate right out of the starting gate.

"My name is Rucker, I own this establishment, if I may be so bold, you two have stirred the place up a bit. May I inquire if this is business or pleasure that brings you here?" Jeesh, how professional and I loved that he didn't shy away from our presence here. I feel like I should be wearing formal wear in front of this guy. His eyes slid back and forth between Jasper and I again.

Jasper smirked, tipping his hat back away from his face and looking up to Rucker, meeting his eyes for the first time.

I heard Rucker give a quick intake of breath and watched his whole body stiffen as his eyes widened getting a look at Jasper's face.

"Actually, old timer, if we could get word with you we'd much appreciate it." Jasper's drawl melted across the expanse between them and I watched the large man's posture relax infinitesimally. I got the feeling that was as much of a relax pose as you would ever see on this guy.

"I'll be damned, it can't be." Rucker stuttered to which Jasper gave a full-blown smile.

Ok, colored I'm confused. What the fuck is happening?

"Uh, mind filling me in?" I asked Jasper.

"Mind if I sit?" Rucker asked at the same time I did and sat down before either of us could say yeah or nah. He slid into the booth next to Jasper and seemed to be trying to catch his breath.

Jasper motioned to Rucker addressing my question; "I met Shadow on the battle field as enemies." He told me cryptically.

Ok. I raised an eyebrow in question. A hundred things run through my mind at once, but the only thing I could truly think is then why isn't this guy not kicking our asses? Or trying to?

"You see, my lady," Rucker took his eyes off Jasper pointing his gaze at me, "Your mate saved my life when we were in the Civil War."

That's not at all what I was expecting to hear. I let myself ease back into the cushion of the booth, as it was my turn to look back and forth between the two men.  
Jasper shook his head and snorted, "I believe that goes both ways, if I remember it correctly."

"Why didn't you tell me you knew him?" I hissed at Jasper as my brain whirled with what this meant.

Jasper turned to me, amusement etching his features, "I wasn't sure it would be him. It's been many years since I've seen him and the last time I wasn't even sure if he survived the day, besides we were human then. When I heard his name it brought the memory back. I hadn't thought much of my time in the human war in years, there was a chance I was wrong."

To say shock rocked my body and an insurmountable hope shot through me would be an understatement.

"I never in a million years would have figured you to be the same as I and to meet up with you again like this. This does bring up long forgotten memories of another time. Tell me, how were you changed? Where have you been? What brings you here?" Rucker's exuberance was bringing attention to us along with our conversation in general. If the faces that were turned our way were any indication, we were creating a stir once again.

"Is there somewhere more private we could go?" I whispered and Rucker followed my eyes around the place to see and hear that the place was almost all attuned to our little booth and they were actually leaning to hear our little chat.

Turning back to us he eyed me for a moment and then leaned forward, making Jasper follow the motion with his own casual lean, as he put himself between Rucker and me and any contact Rucker thought he would bestow on me.

"You look familiar as well. I can't put my finger on it, did I meet you when you were human, are you from our era as well?" Rucker's eyes were lit with nothing but curiosity and excitement as he whispered his inquiry.

I shook my head slowly, giving him a guarded smile, "No, I don't think that's where you know me from. But if you give us some privacy, I might be able to shed some light." Jasper sent me a jolt of curiosity but I didn't reply.

I held Rucker's inquisitiveness with a steady gaze of my own and he finally gave a jerk of his head in acquiescence. "Let me make my rounds and then I will come back for you, I have a place in the back where we will not be disturbed." With that he got up, motioning for a waitress and made demands for us to have fresh drinks on the house.

As he walked away, the attention of the room didn't leave our table. I sighed, realizing the gossip of us was up ten fold. I looked over to Jasper and gave a shrug of my shoulder. People could speculate all they wanted I suppose; it wasn't going to matter in a little while. They'd all know the truth soon enough.

As we sat waiting, Jasper gave Ivan and Cherish instructions to hold their positions near the door and to keep their ears and eyes open and let us know first sign of any trouble.

Checking in with the others outside they said all was quiet.

By the time the waitress came with our fresh drinks, Rucker was making his way back to our table and he motioned silently for us to follow him, giving us a huge smile. Jasper shared the man's enthusiastic emotions with me but there was a mix also of curiosity and apprehension swirling in there. I couldn't blame the man.

As we swept through the outskirts of the dance floor and drifted around the tables, heads turned in our direction. Jasper once again tucked his hat down and tipped his head so his face wasn't as recognizable. I, however, did not have a shield for hiding my face. As we glided past a table with a couple of ghouls I heard my name whispered on their lips.

Jasper reached back with his hand grabbing me and pulling me along. I didn't realize I'd hesitated until I was moving steadily again. My little faux pas brought an instant excitement to the place. The buzz grew around us, my name now on many of their lips. Seeming to realize the attention, Rucker began to walk a bit quicker. We were being led to the doorway leading to the back where Rucker had appeared from, when Ivan came buzzing into my ear, "_I doona whatchya did, but yer got deir knickers dancin'. They know who ya' be lass, and your name's bein' passed around like lightin' hit the place._"

Jasper was suddenly behind me, pushing me through the door ahead of him, following Rucker quickly into the back. I heard my name being called out loud this time, like they wanted my actual attention.

I turned, scrunching my brow but still keeping pace with Rucker until we were out of sight, "They weren't hostile were they?"

"No," Jasper whispered back, "but I'd like to get a chance to talk to Shadow before we make ourselves known." Oh well that did make sense I guess.

Rucker led us further into the back and around several passages until the murmur of voices died down behind us and we entered another wooden door marked 'PRIVATE'.

He held it open for us and as soon as he could, he pushed it shut and leaned against it. "You missy stirred that crowd a bit. Is it true? Are you Izzy?" his eyes were dancin' with delight and I couldn't seem to get a grasp on what that excitement curtailed and where it would lead.

I wasn't sure if I should answer but figured what the hell, "Yes." It's not like I could or should lie about it. That's why we were here after all, right? When he thought he'd recognized me, I had a suspicion this is why.

Rucker let the air out of his lungs and his ruddy eyes grew huge, "You're a bit of a hero down here if you don't mind my saying."

I gave him no outward notice of any reaction I had to that proclamation, but on the inside I was frazzled. Hero? I wouldn't exactly call it that. But from the moment there was hint of recognition and my name was spilled, I knew my identity wasn't as well hidden as previously thought. But to attach hero at the end? I wasn't so sure how I felt about that.

Jasper looked between the two of us and answered before me, "I don't think we understand."

Rucker laughed at that and walked into the room, skirting us and heading to a wet bar next to a huge oak desk with piles of paperwork on it. I took the moment to really look at the room we had been pushed into. It was outsized and looked more what the inner shell of the Mayan ruin would be set up to look like on the inside. Yet there were Roman touches as well, sheer curtains shaped the room, cutting off the back half, and divided the room into sections and although it didn't hide anything, it gave the room a definite dimension it wouldn't have without them. Behind the sheerness there was what looked like oversized beanbags and I felt like at any moment belly dancers were going to melt from the walls and begin their exotic routines around the enormous bed in the center of the room.

On this side of the curtains, it was more normal and concurrent to what you would expect of a Mayan civilization long gone. Strange indeed.

The entire place had an open feel to it with rising pillars and archways providing walls around us, but it was deceiving, for beyond them it was walled in and cut off so no one could come or go through them anymore.

The natural vines of the forest wrapped up the pillars, and as my eye followed them up, I soon realized I was hearing the nightlife of the forest through the roof. Although the archways were cut off from entrance the only thing that held the stars from sight was the overgrown vines and foliage weaving intricate patterns above us. I could feel and smell the fresh night air in here and wondered just how safe it truly was to talk. As if reading my mind Rucker answered my unspoken question.

"This part of the place is a bit of the original ruin I found years ago and left mostly intact. I had to do some improvising here and there as you can see and modify it to my needs by cutting off the walkways; it seemed to be a pavilion of sorts before. Above us is open, but be assured you could hear anyone who came up on us. I have guards up there and around the place 24 hours a day. They are highly trusted and have been with me since I took over the place, we can talk freely here." He gave a small reassuring smile as he picked up a decanter of what looked like whiskey and poured himself a hefty glass of the elixir.

I took a sip of mine that I still held and looked at Jasper over the rim to assess whether he felt comfortable with this or not. He sent me a shot of reassurance and I relaxed. If he was comfortable then that was all I cared about.

"Please let's sit," Rucker swung the arm he was holding his tumbler in to a living room space to our left and the three of us took seats. I sat next to Jasper on a loveseat and Rucker took the other loveseat across from us.

"How do you know me? How did you and Jasper meet?" questions rattled around in my head and I realized I was practically vibrating while I waited for answers.

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**A/N**

**I know this chapter is really short for what I usually put out, but I had to start somewhere to get back into the swing of things.**

**The next chapter is almost done and will be sending it to my Beta's for much needed work over the weekend. You should see the next chapter up first part of the week or soon after.**

**I will start posting every week again.**

**Love ya all for sticking with me and look forward to what you think as always...**

**leave some love! lol or the tongue lashing you want to give for me taking so long :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N**

**Thank you thank you to my Betas Bripearl and Letusdance! They are the reason you're getting this so fast and before Thursday! They just rock like that!**

**SM owns Twilight I merely own Izzy's Monstress.**

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_Previously;_

_I took a sip of mine that I brought with me and looked at Jasper over the rim to access whether he felt comfortable with this or not. He sent me a shot of reassurance and I relaxed. If he was comfortable then that was all I cared about. _

_"Please let's sit," Rucker swung the arm he was holding his tumbler in to a living space to our left and the three of us took seats. I sat next to Jasper on the loveseat and Rucker took the other loveseat across from us. _

"_How do you know me? How did you and Jasper meet?" questions rattled around in my head and I realized I was practically vibrating while I waited for answers._

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**~Rucker and Heros~**

**~Izzy POV~**

Rucker put up his hands to stop the slew of questions it was obvious I wanted to spew, "I don't know you of course. I've never met you. But I believe your reputation precedes you, if you truly are Izzy."

Only hesitating briefly, I answered. "Yes, I'm Izzy. Or some call me B," I provided. "I'm really known? How?"

He nodded and the look in his eye was one of caution but more prominently, sheer admiration. "I believe you. It's hard to deny the recognition of so many out there." Flicking his hand to indicate the bar, "You _are_ well known, especially around these parts, for the work you and your people do. There are several ghouls that we passed who have been in your presence personally, I believe."

I was shocked and quickly ran through the faces we'd passed. I shook my head slowly in protest, but Rucker waved my confusion away with his hand.

"They were in pretty bad shape the last time you would have seen them. The places you go are not known for their hospitality to any of their guests, am I wrong?" His voice was grave.

"No, you are not wrong. How? I mean I barely saw them before they were taken away to be treated, I don't recognize anyone. How could they recognize me if I don't recognize them in turn?"

"You don't give yourself enough credit. Besides, not every woman I know, or any for that matter, walks around in leathers with their hair braided toting weapons. Especially one of such beauty." Rucker's small smile was one of warmth, not of lust, but that didn't stop Jasper from reacting to his words.

Jasper growled a warning at Rucker and Rucker put his hands up. "No offense was intended by any means, just stating facts. You don't blend in too well, Izzy. The two of you together looking as you do, brought a lot of attention to yourselves. It's not a bad thing, just not very covert. People were bound to take notice."

"I sat out there for several hours and no one said anything. We aren't here to be covert." I whined incredulously with a bit of a scoff at the end. My feelings on this were all over the place.

Rucker's head tipped back guffawing at my frazzled state. "As I saw on camera, your mate here wouldn't let anyone approach to find out. I'm sorry if our public conversation confirmed to them their suspicions. You don't have anything to fear here, however. I can't imagine any of them wishing you ill will."

"But most of the people we've saved have been incorporated into our group. I don't understand."

"Most yes, if rumors are true, many have sought refuge with you and donated themselves quite admirably to your cause.

There are those who were rescued that did not stay long or left shortly after being healed, however. Am I wrong that you don't make them stay to serve you? No one has ever talked of having to escape your group's confines. They are hushed about the workings of your organization and where you all come from, or where they were taken, and they hold true to their word. They do talk amongst themselves of the horror they witnessed in the Labs they were rescued from. But I have never heard a harsh word spoken toward you." Rucker explained.

When neither of us said anything he continued, "I know my bar has a bad reputation. Most of it was created on purpose. We don't want trouble here and spreading rumors keep most troublemakers away. The patrons here are mostly outcasts from this and that. So when I tell you that your secret is safe I mean it. You, Izzy, are truly a hero to them. You and your organization."

"I didn't know we were so well known. Not that we try to hide from anyone or are ashamed of what we do, it's just better to keep a low profile." I said.

"I can't speak for outside these walls, of course, but part of the reason you are known here is because the ones you rescued had families to come back to. It's the only reason they didn't stay with you. Usually no one comes back once they disappear. I'm sure you know that people of our world disappear all the time, never to be seen again. Until the last decade that is, when a few actually returned to tell the tale."

I sat back and gawked at the man. I was speechless. Jasper reached over and rubbed my leg in support, and I gave him a weak smile. We never demanded that anyone stay with us. There were never stipulations of anyone's rescue unless we saw some danger in them being released out of our custody. Not everyone adapted to his or her new life, some couldn't adapt. The horrors they endured in those places was simply too much. Like Rucker said, some were taken off the street to never be heard from again by their family and friends.

Until we came along.

But Jamie, Josh and Jeb took care of that part of the recovery. Peter, Charlotte, Nevell and I worked in the labs and recon teams to find the next place after all was said and done. Jamie and her team made sure testing was done and that there were never complications in releasing anyone. They were given money and we made sure they knew there was always a place for them if they decided to join us. The only thing we asked of them was to keep their mouths shut about us and where we were.

"I have known several ghouls and dhampirs who were rescued from the Labs." Rucker continued into the silence that had swelled between us, "I know there are more who have wandered in and out of this place from time to time, but we do have a few regulars who come in frequently," I looked up at him and could see the compassion in his eyes as he spoke, "They all hold your organization in high regard. Jamie is somewhat of a hero as well. She nursed them back to health, but she was always adamant they knew your name, along with a couple of others, so that if they should ever need anything they were to get word to you.

You have to understand," he said seriously leaning forward, "Ninety percent of preternatural who come in here know of the Labs. The gossip mill runs rampant here. The Labs are whispered about amongst us. I have worked with a couple of your people as well, exchanging information. If push came to shove I can guarantee you would have a huge support if you needed it."

"Uh," what a coincidence, "actually that's part of the reason we're here, but first, how do the two of you know each other? You met during the Civil War?" I motioned between the two men.

"Well," Rucker looked over to Jasper with so much respect and admiration that I felt pride swell in my chest, "I don't remember much, your mate might remember more than I do. I don't even remember what town we were in. Do you know much about the Civil War, Izzy?"

"Some, I've heard stories and read books, and listened to stories from my comrades," I told him.

"Well, I won't get into too much of my life, but the reason I enlisted in the North was to hopefully track down my family left in the south and move them to safety. It took awhile; they'd been sold again after I was relocated to the north. I don't remember how that came about exactly and it's not pertinent to the story. It was hard to track them down nonetheless. There was a lot of chaos and my memory isn't that good, so it's a little blurry. I do remember finding them and convincing them to come with me to safety. We packed their very meager belongings, just what we could carry, and escaped from the plantation they were at in the middle of the night. After traveling on the road for a couple of days, we were tired and hungry when we came upon a small farm on the outskirts of a town I don't recall the name of. We sought shelter in their barn and waited for nightfall.

Before I could try to scrounge up any food, the farm came under siege by the Yankees. I remember being torn on what to do. It was dusk and we had nowhere to run. I wanted to put back on my uniform and confront the regiment who were dragging the occupants of the house out onto the lawn and make them stop. I couldn't believe the army I joined would do such things, but there it was before my eyes. I knew they were a raiding party and wanted food for themselves, but I didn't believe in what they were doing or how they were going about it.

I didn't know what to do, and as I made my decision, a Confederate party came up the road. My family and I were now forced to watch as a fight broke out and the little farming family was caught in the middle. I couldn't just stand and watch then, no matter what. The father drew a gun and started shooting before I made it to them; he was the first to go down.

I ran out of the barn and into the yard and began to gather the screaming children and woman, telling them to run into the barn. There was a lot of screaming and fighting with them as they wanted to get back to the man lying dead on the ground. I got halfway to the barn with the lot of them and up came this Yankee soldier boy on a painted horse, gun drawn, and I thought surely God wouldn't kill me for helping this family to safety.

I don't remember exactly where he came from, but from nowhere it seemed out came a Confederate horse and rider and tackled the Yankee coming down on us. They fell from their horses on the ground and I didn't wait to see what would be the fate of the two, I made that family run. The mother, or so I think she was, was screaming about some child left behind, I didn't stop to pay attention until we got to the barn and turned to see what she was blatherin' about. Sure enough a little tike no more than 3 or 4 was standin where we'd stopped the first time and was just starin' at those two brawling in front of her.

My mother, god bless her, handed me my gun and I stormed back across to get the hypnotized child. Coming across the yard, the fight of those two men caught my eye and I saw that our savior was not farin' too well. He was on the ground and our would-be executioner was about to shoot him in the head. I didn't think, I just pulled my gun up and fired, killing the Yankee.

I grabbed the now screamin' child and hauled ass back to the barn as we heard a slew of gunshots coming from what seemed every side. I got back to the barn and the bloody beatin' up Confederate soldier I just saved was right on my heels. We got the barn door shut and we holed up in there listenin' to the gunfight, it didn't take long. I don't even know who won the skirmish.

Somehow by the grace of god, no one opened them barn doors and found us. I'm not sure why. When it got quiet and nothing could be heard after the horses barreled off, we snuck out of the barn and got the family back into the house. Your man here and I dug a grave for the family's head of house and held a little ceremony. The family made us food and come day break we went our separate ways."

The stillness of the night came over us, as Rucker finished speaking and we all seemed to have gotten lost in our thoughts for several minutes. I was trying to wrap my brain around this. How crazy was it that these two actually knew each other and had once saved each other's lives?

"I don't think I'd been in the army long at that point," Jasper spoke finally breaking the little bubble that seemed to have descended on the three of us. "I was scared out of my mind when I saw that family running across the yard and the man barreling towards them ready to shoot them all dead. I didn't even think when I threw myself on top of him, knocking him from his horse. I would have shot him, but I was out of bullets, it was the only means I could think of to stop him from shooting any of them. The guy did a right number on me. I was a scrawny kid compared to the soldier I tried to take down. This big guy saved my life. I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd ever see him again, let alone like this."

Rucker laughed then, "This is quite the reunion I'll give ya that." He shook his head in wonder, "Never in my wildest dreams would I expect you to show up with this young lady as your mate. I would have remembered hearing your name mentioned along with hers from the survivors. How long have you been mates, if I may ask?"

"Only a week or so." Jasper told him quietly.

"So what happened then? How did you become a vampire?" I asked, curiosity killing the cat. Besides, I wanted to hear the rest of the story. It was truly fascinating to me how this was all turning out. Not to mention I knew once we started into Jasper's change and the calamity that curtailed I wouldn't find out what I wanted.

Rucker let out a shaky chuckling laugh, "When I got my family to safety, I went back to my regiment. Or at least I tried to, I ran into some trouble when I met two women by the names of Lucy and Nettie. They seduced me with their wiles and changed me. When I woke up from the burn they told me what I now was, what was expected of me, and about their sister in arms Maria," I felt Jasper stiffen beside me and the dread that came off of him was palpable. I squeezed his leg which only resulted in a slight release of his tension.

"I take it from your reaction that you have heard of Maria?" Our exchange had not gone unnoticed by our host.

"You could say that." Jasper gritted his teeth.

Rucker gave him a funny look, "Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Rucker's baritone was calm, but the tension could be cut with a knife.

"I'm not with Maria, if that's what you're asking," Jasper's voice was much steadier than mine would have been.

"But I take it you know her?" Rucker asked again.

"Yes, but be assured I hold no loyalties or love for the cunt." Jasper growled.

The silence stretched out as Rucker sized up Jasper and what he'd said. It was obvious Jasper wasn't going to give him anymore than that at the moment and eventually Rucker nodded, acknowledging that fact.

"You will enlighten me when I am done telling you?" and Jasper nodded and it seemed to appease Rucker for the moment, "You know of the Southern Wars?" Rucker then asked, to which both Jasper and myself affirmed with nods. "Nettie and Lucy hated Maria. Their 'sister', as they told us, was a malicious bitch and they had decided to get rid of her. They were building a private army against her to take (remove her) over and I was one of many they changed for the war they wanted to throw at her.

I took to the life easily enough I suppose, it was hard and I soon realized that this Maria they spoke of, if she was as vindictive as they said, had nothing on Lucy and Nettie. They took turns with us, shaping us into what they wanted; they were never there at the same time, but their ways of molding us was, well… it wasn't anything to be grateful for.

"Anyway, I won't bore you with those details. Just know they were not kind. We gained and lost just as many as they trained. It became our way of life and for some reason none of us seemed to rebel against it. We were made for one soul purpose and the 'twins' made sure we all knew it and held tight reigns on all of us.

On one of the evenings that Nettie was to come relieve Lucy, she never showed up. I was a couple years old by then. Lucy got antsy as time went by, and by morning she was a raving lunatic. She told us all not go anywhere, she or her sister would be back and there would be hell to pay if anything happened while she was gone. One of her more loyal subjects and I were to watch over the others and she left.

Rucker sighed looking at his hands, "That was the last time we ever saw or heard from either one of them. The word spread years later that one of the recruits Maria had acquired killed both of them. I can't say I'm sorry they died. The others didn't even want to go after them to find out what happened. I didn't either, truth be told, we were much better off without them and I couldn't help but be relieved. The loyal subject left behind to guard us was the only one who showed concern and tried to make us stay. There were sixteen of us altogether. When we realized they weren't coming back, we all went our separate ways. I stuck to a couple of guys I'd become friends with and we wandered farther south, away from the chaos, and tried to make the most of our new freedom and existence." Rucker finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

I knew who had killed Lucy and Nettie. Peter had finally told me tidbits of Jasper's story, after I beat the piss out of him and threatened his Johnson enough, he had given in to my demand. I didn't know Jasper's version, but I knew the cliff notes. I don't even think Peter and Char knew the whole story behind Jasper.

I chanced a glance at him now and squeezed his leg to get his attention from staring somewhere behind Rucker. His head snapped to me and met my eyes. There was so much pain there, I almost burst.

Monstress peaked out and Major was soon to make an appearance. We gazed at each other for what seemed like hours. Monstress and I gave them the strength and love they needed in that moment. Finally I gave Jasper a small smile and a shaky nod of my head. He needed to tell Rucker the truth. I wanted him to know I was with him; I didn't care about his past. I loved him with everything.

"I didn't mean to put a damper on the party," Rucker broke us up out of our silent conversation.

"You didn't." Jasper said as he turned to Rucker, "but there's some things I need to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to take them."

Rucker eyed him for a moment, his brow furrowed, as if he could just pluck it out of Jasper's head as to what was going on. "About Maria." He stated.

Jasper nodded, "I should start by telling you how I was changed." Jasper began and his voice was deeper than usual and filled with tension and remorse.

He started to tell us his side of events of how he was changed and what took place from his perspective. How he met the three 'sisters' and how Maria changed him. Rucker's face was one of astonishment at the announcement of Maria being Jasper's sire.

"You're telling me Maria is your sire?" his voice filled with accusation, "You let me sit here and tell you all of that without saying a word?"

"I am not with Maria anymore." Jasper was quick to remind him, "I haven't been for nearly a century. Before you pass judgment on me, please hear me out." Rucker snorted and gave a stiff go ahead with a wave of his arm.

"I would imagine Maria wasn't much different in her tactics of training compared to her sisters, so I'll skip over it. The sisters were right about what they told you about Maria, as I'm sure you know. Being around her was hell on earth. She controlled us and kept everyone she thought could be of use to her close. I woke up with a gift that Maria found very useful and she kept me closer than any others."

"What's your gift?" Rucker interrupted.

"I'm an empath." He went on to explain what that meant. How Maria used him to keep and train the newborns. How he could keep them calm and more in control of themselves.

"I can imagine Maria kept you on a short leash, that would be useful to her in more ways than one." Rucker acknowledged.

"She did." Jasper went on to tell us how she used him for her new army and how paranoid Maria became about Lucy and Nettie. He told his version of how Nettie and Lucy would disappear sometimes for days at a time.

Maria finally had enough and forced Jasper to kill them once he got the chance.

Rucker and I sat in total fascination as we listened to him weave his tale. Monstress wasn't so fascinated as she was salivating for blood.

Jasper moved on to tell us both about the territory wars they were in and hinted at the torture Maria had put everyone through. I got the distinct impression that Jasper's torture was much more severe than the others. How else did she control him like that? He had a gift he could've sent her to her knees with and weep like a baby. But he never had. She controlled him and made him believe that that was the life of a vampire. He had no other choice. She made him believe that this was the only way of life there was for him.

He told us about Peter and Charlotte, but left out their names. I wondered briefly why, but realized that would come soon enough. I was in awe of the web around us, linking us all together and yet we stood separately throughout time. It was like we were joining up at the joints of that web, combining forces and forging on to find the middle. What a fucking small world.

When Jasper got to how he escaped and wandered around for several years, and how killing humans affected him, he stopped right before meeting Alice. He merely told Rucker he had eventually found the Cullens and changed his diet. Then met me and had gone back to drinking human blood from a bag.

When Jasper finished talking, Rucker jumped up from his seat and began to pace. On instinct, Jasper and I jumped into defensive positions along with him. But Rucker wasn't even paying attention to us.

He stomped around the room as he rubbed his face with both hands and swept them over his shiny baldhead, over and over, as he mumbled to himself.

Jasper and I slowly came out of our crouches, watching him cautiously.

"This is… this is… I am at a loss my friend." At the word friend, I felt Jasper release the tension he was holding and heard him exhale slowly. Rucker turned to us with bright shiny ruddiness and seemed to look at Jasper with a set of brand new eyes.

"It seems, my friend, I am once more at your mercy. I know you had no idea what the repercussions were of your actions at the time, but you freed me once again by killing those two… those two twin beasts!" Rucker's hands balled into fists as he spoke, spitting venom.

"But I _didn't_ know. You are in no way obligated to me in any way. There is no mercy to give where there is none to be given." Jasper spoke quietly, but firmly to him.

"You are the Major." Rucker said suddenly, and the name bounced off the walls and seemed to swallow us even though Rucker whispered it.

"Yes." Jasper answered and that previous tension came soaring back.

"I'll be damned." Rucker shook his head and then snapped his eyes to me, "and you are the Angel who has saved many and given them salvation when there was none to be had. Now, you are mated together somehow, as God has seemed to see fit." He seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Wonders never cease." I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He just seemed to take it all in such stride.

"I am surprised you were not recognized by anyone here." He continued, turning his attention back to Jasper, "There are two that I know of who have spoken of you personally. They served under you when you were with Maria. They fled soon after you disappeared from the ranks. There has been much speculation as to what happened to you. Most believed as Maria told everyone; that she had killed you for your increasing insubordination. Some believed that you escaped and as years have gone by, many have believed you to be merely a tale spun to scare the shit out of the rest. I must ask you, Jasper, what has brought the Major once again to the South?"

Ignoring the question Jasper asked, "That's all you have to say?"

"Well, no, it's not the first thing to come to mind. Did you come to fight me? Take what's mine?"

"No."

"Then we don't have a problem." He sighed and looked up through the roof above him as if trying to find his thoughts written in the stars. "Like I said, you freed me of a life of pain and torture. I made peace with the Major years ago; although I did not know it was you personally, I was grateful nonetheless. By no means do I feel that I am a stupid man. Being here and being responsible for many lives has taught me a great number of things. Not going off half cocked is one of them. You were as much a victim of circumstance as I was. Knowing that it was _you _who saved me is icing on the cake. Now, will you tell me what brought you here?"

Jasper gave a short nod and we sat back down and encouraged Rucker to do the same. Once we were cozy once again, Jasper leaned forward, clasping his hands together, "It's quite a complicated story, actually. First, I want to know what you know about Maria's sire, if anything?"

Rucker eyed us warily for a few minutes before he answered. I wanted to shake him by the time he opened his mouth, "I know there is someone that pulls her strings, at least as gossip goes. I don't know if it's her sire, or just someone more powerful than she is. From the little I learned from the evil twins, Lucy and Nettie, Maria never made any large decisions without consult from someone else. They never spoke of her by name, only calling her the Pequeno Diablo, or little devil. It was one of the biggest rifts between Maria and the evil twins. Is that why you are here? Are you looking for her? I must say, she is more of a myth than the Major. I'm not even sure anymore if she even exists or did at all."

"She did exist," Jasper told him somberly, "her name was actually Alice Bysshop or Alice Brandon depending on who you were to her," Jasper's voice shook with unleashed rage, "the story is long and one day I will tell you, Shadow, but for today I will give you the short version." And then Jasper gave the cliff notes of how he escaped with Peter and Charlotte and Alice coming to him in Philly. Rucker sat in rapt attention as Jasper wove his tale on how he and I got here at the present time. He didn't elaborate on my coming into this world, but gave enough so that Rucker would understand the connection.

"This is a lot for even a vampire to take in. So it was Peter and Charlotte who drug you out of that hell hole?" Rucker said after Jasper was finished. "I have heard their names along with Izzy's here over the last decade."

"It's a small world."

"That's an understatement. Fate more like it," He muttered under his breath. He visibly shook himself and said louder, "I will hold you to the longer version rest assured, but I see there are more important things to be hashed out. So, what are you plans now? You are going after Maria?"

"We're here to gather any information we can that's pertinent about Maria or Alice and to let those we can find know that there will be a summit held in few days time to mark our claim on the South and our intentions there after. We would like to talk to any coven leader we can." Jasper told him.

Rucker didn't seem to be too surprised by that news as he sat chewing his lip, contemplating.

I could here the soft noises from the bar every once in awhile as laughter filtered to us through the walls. I desperately wanted to ask Ivan or Cherish how things were going out there, but I didn't dare. They had been extremely quiet through our whole story sharing. I could hear the noises around them as the bar didn't seem to waiver in its momentum, unlike a human bar would at this hour.

Looking up, I could see through the vines that morning would be upon us soon. The sky was just barely now gaining a faint bit of light. We had spent more time here than we planned. I figured we could hit two establishments before daybreak. That wasn't going to happen. We would also need to feed before too long. Finding wildlife wouldn't be too difficult and one of our guards outside held our backpack full of the human side of our nourishment.

I was staring off into space, lost in my thoughts and scenarios of what we would do if Rucker didn't want to help or if he suddenly decided to challenge us for the position. In all rights I supposed he could. Anyone could for that matter. I can't say I wouldn't be a little sad if he did challenge us. I had grown quite fond of the man during the short time we had been here. I wondered how many would in the long run step forward to brave it away from us. I would be naive to think they wouldn't. Coming out with this was putting us into a whole new danger. I felt sometimes like the world was one big oyster pot of trouble.

Down here, I knew this is what everyone was used to. Turf wars were as common as feeding to these people. We wanted to change that. I knew there would be resistance to that way of life, for some it was all they knew. I wondered if we could put that to use somehow.

When Rucker finally spoke I actually jolted at his rich baritone, forgetting for a moment that we were waiting for the man to speak, "I think I really only have one question for you, Jasper, and from there I will give you my honest opinion on the matter and decide what I shall do. What do you plan to do if and when you take over?" I wasn't surprised by the question in the least. It was fair considering the reputation of the Major.

Jasper looked to me and raised an eyebrow. I knew he was asking 'how much should we tell him.' Why the fuck not tell him it all? I sent reassurance and devotion to him, hoping he would understand that I stood behind whatever he thought was best. Jasper sent his understanding back and turned to Rucker.

"I don't plan to do it alone." Jasper started, "I've discussed this with my mate and we've decided we would like to take the territory and transform it, making it a safe haven for the newer preternatural and our species to co-exist. We have the leader of dhampirs and leader of the ghouls who are also on board with us. I won't be running it solo. The only thing that will change is that Maria will be gone and there will be an end to the territory wars. No more tortures or making of armies to annihilate each other. They will be dealt with as they come up. I truly believe we can make this as peaceful, if not more than any of the other Power's territories."

Rucker took a moment to absorb what Jasper said and nodded, "Do you plan to make yourselves known to the Powers? This territory has been a volatile place for as long as I know."

"We plan to become one of them. I don't think getting their attention should be too hard." I replied.

I was beginning to think this man's face was going to stick in that surprised wide-eyed look he kept giving us. Telling him these things wasn't damaging to us. I thought possibly it would help in the long run for everyone to know our intentions. It would let those opposing us know we were in this for the long haul and were serious about our goals.

"You plan to commission the Power's?" Jasper nodded as Rucker continued, "Is it even possible? You don't know any of them, do you? There hasn't been a change in them or any additions in a millennium, if not several millennia!"

"There's a lot to be taken care of before that happens, granted, but you asked what our intentions were and it's up to us to see it through." Jasper told him.

"This is true. I hope you know what you are doing. There will be many who will challenge you for the position once you announce this, not even to mention what Maria will do when she finds out."

"We're hoping to flush her out. She won't be able to sit back and do nothing with such a challenge." Jasper's cocky grin brought a smile to Rucker's face.

"Bold, but smart. Maria will not like someone taking over. No, I imagine she'll be down right pissed off. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into. Maria is powerful and has many powerful vampires she hides behind to make do her bidding. She is not small in numbers either. I am hoping you are prepared for her, my friend."

"Yes, and we hope to gain more numbers or at least people who are willing to stand against her when the time comes. We don't expect people to do it, but the opportunity is there if they want. Maria, herself, is mine." Jasper ended with a hiss.

"What will you do with those who hold their own lines or covens?" Rucker asked and I could see the tension in his body.

I smirked at his question. I could only imagine that this man had more numbers than we knew about. His reputation however, was one of fairness and honesty; I would not hesitate to fight next to him now that we'd spent some time with him.

"As long as a coven leader takes care of his or hers, I don't see any problems. We won't put up with torturing or breaking the rules of our world." I saw Rucker stiffen further and I held up my hand so he could let me finish, "I saw the humans out in the bar, but rest assured as long as the mass of humans don't know and pictures in the tabloids don't start appearing, there won't be any problems."

"You don't mind that there are humans here?" the disbelief in his voice wasn't lost on me.

"No, on the contrary. Not that I think it's time to go public to the world as a whole that we all exist, but there's no way around it as far as I can see, that humans not know about us on a small scale. We need those human connections to be able to function in the world of today. I must ask you Mr. Rucker for my own peace of mind, how are you feeling about all this? Where do you stand when it comes to us taking over control of this area?" I needed to know this. Are you friend or foe?

"Ah, I was wondering if you would get around to this question." He sighed looking down and picking invisible lint from his pant leg, "To be honest with you," his eyes met mine, "I'm being carefully optimistic. I have people I look out for, and owning this establishment, I know more than most. There has been an increasing unrest. It started when the first surviving ghoul showed up at my door telling tales of a horror none of us could imagine. That was many years ago. It has only increased since then.

Maria creates fear around here that you could not fathom. Well," Rucker looked at Jasper, "Maybe you could. I have fought on the battlefield against her, not since the 60's when we finally came to a truce, but I know what she is capable of. The recent unrest," he shook his head with a sadness and regret _I_ could even feel, "it fills my heart with dread. I have thought long and hard about going back up against her. Some of my close friends have approached me to talk and wondered if we combined forces, we could (remove not) take her. But then we have to hold off the rest of them as well, and I'm not equipped for that. The loss to us however, small or large, would be too great. Not that we are cowards, but she has ruled this territory with an iron fist for so long, it would be hard to gather enough people to do it. They have lost hope that we will live like this forever. I know of lots who have moved north trying to get away from her.

To answer the question, I do not have any such notions of taking the territory myself. I have created a safe haven here for many to come and get away. I have friends and a good life, and she leaves us alone for the most part.

I want my people to be able to live peacefully. I don't think that's too much to ask. I will stand behind you in your endeavors as long as you leave me to mine."

"This unrest that you speak of, is it only the result of the labs or is there another reason as well? Is there anything you've heard about the tournaments or something to do with some kind of games?" I asked hoping he would know something, anything that could lead us closer.

Another wary look came over Rucker's features, but it was the sadness and age that crept into his eyes that put dread in my heart.

"Are you asking me if I know about them or if I'm involved in them?"

I hesitated for a second, "Either or." Honesty is the best policy. I wasn't about to hold back now.

"I am not involved. As you may or may not know, there is an information highway through my establishment. I ignore most of the gossip and I stay as neutral as I can. But I will tell you what I know. Trust me when I say it's not a place you would like to be. You have heard of course of the Romanians who now control most of Russia? You know who all the Powers are?"

"Yes, of course, Vladimir and Stephen rule over Russia now. And yes we know the rest of them as well." I answered.

"Yes, those are the two barbarians. Mostly everyone just calls them the Russians. I will tell you because I feel I owe Jasper many deeds for what he has done for me, but I am trusting you to never let anyone know where you heard it." Jasper and I quickly agreed.

"The Russians or Romanians, however you want to refer to them, started the whole thing many years ago with the Volturi. It has become an elite club of sorts to see who can out best, out smart, and out last all others. If you'll remember history books telling of the Romans and the Gladiators, then you will have a good idea what goes on.

It's always a new place and it's never announced where it will be until two days before it is to happen. Only a select few are told. Coven leaders bring their best to fight each other to the death in the ring. Usually the places are picked out to hold an audience of hundreds if not thousands. The ones they bring to fight, that is the calamity. Some are unrecognizable as to exactly what they are supposed to be. As long as they can walk into the ring it doesn't matter their origin. I've heard rumors and of course they are just rumors, but it is said they have even brought Minotaur and a Centaur. I don't know if it's true or not."

"Shape shifters." I whispered as Jasper and I sat gaping at him. Of course! I wanted to scream. That's what they've been doing in the labs with the shape shifters.

"What about the shape shifters?" Rucker's lips were a grim line.

"They've been stealing shape shifters. Experimenting on them, now we know why. "

"The rumors are true then?" a look of disgust filled Rucker's features and matched my own sentiments.

"It seems so." I shook my head.

"What's the purpose for this? Money?" Jasper asked.

"Prestige, money, title. Whoever wins is highly regarded and the reward doesn't hurt either. The bets are huge. Millions are exchanged. It lasts for two days, one battle after another. Groups are put against each other on the first day and then individual the next. If you have a gift you may use it. You can imagine the outcomes when flamethrowers to ones who can freeze you where you stand climb into the ring. Winners take all."

Holy shit.

"This has been enlightening to say the least. Do you know when the next tournament is?" I know he said 2 days notice, but one never knew unless you asked.

"Like I said, it's not announced until a couple days prior. Would you like me to do some digging? The next one should be soon, there are usually two a year."

"No. Not really. Just keep your ear low to the ground and tell us if you hear when the next one is. We can only handle one crisis at a time. Or 3 as it is now, we don't want to come to your rescue if you stir up unwanted shit right now. But I think I speak for my crew as well as myself when I say I want to be there for the next one if it's possible." I told him and Jasper was nodding next to me.

"I can do that. If you don't mind my asking, where are you headed next?"

"West, to a bar named Mucky Duck." I answered.

"Ah. To warn you, be prepared for anything there," Rucker chuckled darkly, "It isn't a place anyone would want to stay long. Don't let your guard down. I told you there's a flamethrower earlier who attends the tournaments? He is known to frequent the establishment. He has won the last 2 individual tournaments they have had. The Mistress of the place is one of his known lovers. The bar is frequented by Maria's followers."

"Flame thrower and a Mistress? Sounds like Disneyland and a place I can't wait to visit." Jasper said dryly.

Rucker laughed, "Yes, please be careful. The Mistress there isn't anything to sneeze at either, she's ruthless, her bodyguards kill at her beckon call. No one is sure how she keeps it all under control, really. Let's just say if she wanted, she could give Maria a run for her money…. But as it is they are bedfellows. Why do you want to go there?"

"Like I said, we want to flush Maria out." Jasper replied, "what better place?"

"True, if you're looking for trouble you will find it there in spades." Rucker said sourly.

"Great." Jasper and I both said together.

"It's been wonderful to catch up with you old man. We'll have to get together when this is over and sit down for a lengthy chat." Jasper's voice filled with respect for an old adversary and friend.

"I have to agree. I have a million questions I would like to ask, but I'm sure the two of you need to get going. You are welcome back here anytime." Rucker let out a sigh. Reaching over, he hit a button on the table next to him and spoke to the woman we checked our gear into at the door, telling her to have someone bring our stuff around, "I would imagine you don't want to go back out the way you came in. Unless I'm mistaken?"

"No, it would be great to get out of here without that delay. We didn't plan on staying this long, but I must say it was very nice to meet you and I look forward to meeting again." I said with as much sincerity as I could.

"Likewise, to both of you. It has been an unexpected surprise and pleasure to converse with you. I am looking forward to how this will all turn out. I will get word out. You may use my private exit to leave if you wish. I understand the time restraints you must be up against. I hope I will hear from you in the very near future. I will bring as many as I can. For what it is worth, I will stand behind you."

"It means a great deal to us actually. Your support is very welcomed."

Rucker nodded his head. "Good. Good luck to you both."

We made our good-byes short and left through a hidden entry in the back of the room. A bodyguard I hadn't seen before handed us our weapons and we slipped them back onto us. We made short work of telling our guards where to meet us once outside and away from the place.

I was so pleased. This seemed to be going much better than I ever expected. From the bond, I felt Jasper's equal excitement at this development. I couldn't believe our good fortune of actually running into someone from Jasper's human life, and one that knew and recognized him. It was all a bit surreal.

Fate, destiny, consequence of chance whatever you wanted to call it, they were all crazy creatures.

**A/N**

**I'm working on the next chapter as we speak. It's going to be a dooooozy. Sexy times with a splattering of violence thrown in. **

**REC;**** If you all like Edward and a strong Bella check out **_**Blood and Glory by drotuno**_**~ If you haven't been reading it already you should! You have to love a bad ass half dressed mercenary that stutters when nervous around Bella. Just sayin'. **

**I don't have a lot of time to read, and Blood and Glory is a whopper so it's the only new one I've read in the last couple of weeks.**

**Hope you liked this chapter, leave me some love and tell me what you thought. Don't be shy. :)**


	17. Chapter 17

A/N

Let the Beasts within us rejoice.

**Warning:** Graphic feral lemony content directly ahead… you have been warned… no whining allowed. I told you in the beginning there would be Chapters like this. ****Smiles evilly****

**Thank you to my Betas ~Letusdance and Bripearl… they are my life preservers and fuck-awesome**!

SM owns Twilight, I own Izzy's Monstress!

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_Previously;_

"_It means a great deal to us actually. Your support is very welcomed."_

_Rucker nodded his head. "Good. Good luck to you both." _

_We made our good-byes short and left through a hidden entry in the back of the room. A bodyguard I hadn't seen before handed us our weapons and we slipped them back onto us. We made short work of telling our guards where to meet us once outside and away from the place. _

_I was so pleased. This seemed to be going much better than I ever expected. From the bond, I felt Jasper's equal excitement at this development. I couldn't believe our good fortune of actually running into someone from Jasper's human life, and one that knew and recognized him. It was all a bit surreal. _

_Fate, destiny, consequence of chance whatever you wanted to call it, they were all crazy creatures._

~**I Met the Beast and I Liked It**~

**~Izzy POV~**

Our next stop was directly west of us. Jasper and I needed to feed and we decided it would be best not to try to cross land in the daylight hours. By the time we had gotten out of Rucker's the sun was up. It was too late to try to steal a car or two to make it to our next destination. We were severely behind schedule, but meeting Rucker just saved us a hell of a lot of time. We had stayed and chit-chatted for a bit longer before our weapons were brought to us. We then took our leave through the roof exit.

I had a feeling Rucker was going to be a great ally not just now, but years from now as well.

Jasper's tension had been increasing slightly since we'd left Rucker's but when I questioned him he just shook his head. I didn't understand why he'd be tense now that we were away from the bar. I thought maybe he was just apprehensive about our next stop and let it go.

Our group checked in with Sarah, who sat through our entire conversation earlier. She had already updated the other teams on our progress and what we found out. Unsurprisingly, Peter laughed at the turn of events. He wasn't surprised in the least that Jasper knew Rucker, of course.

Sarah let us know the other teams weren't so lucky in getting the word out unscathed. Edward's mouth got him into trouble. He and Nevell, along with their back up team, got into a fight at a bar. This news didn't surprise me, but I wondered if Nevell was ready to throw in the towel on our mind reader. They came away with little to no injuries and did get word out before they left to tackle the next bar on their list. I wondered as well if Edward would have all his body parts when I saw him next.

Peter got in a scrapping match as well with some biker vampires who liked the girls in their group a little too much for the men's liking. Charlotte's ass got pinched which sent Peter into a tailspin. Things turned out ok with only one of the bar patrons without arms. The altercation had led them to the owner of the place, which happened to be our contact there. So it turned out in the end. No one died or got burned up.

Tia and Bruce, however, faired well as did Jamie and Josh. The other team was Randal and Taggart. They seemed to fare as well as the latter teams. Leave it to the leading groups to get their asses into trouble.

Most importantly, word was out. The ball was officially rolling and we were stirring trouble as we went. Maria, if she hadn't already heard, would know what we were up to soon.

Sarah also told us four more ghouls woke up in South America and one of the shape shifters had died in La Push. There wasn't much hope for the female shapeshifter who was barely hanging on by a thread. It might be for the best knowing what they were suppose to become. God only knew what they had had put in their systems. Jacob relayed that from their testing, the substance wasn't anything anyone had ever seen or heard of thus far, which is something we already knew. It was such a waste. I told Sarah to tell them, next time they called, what we found out from Rucker.

Our group here separated the contents from the backpack we'd brought with us as part of our gear when we left the jet. We took off into smaller groups making arrangements to meet up midday.

Both Jasper and I found coyotes and quickly took our prey leaving the remnants for the scavengers of the forest to take care of for us. We then indulged in cold human bags of blood. Blech! So much better warm let me tell you.

Before I finished drinking my bag Jasper's body was pressed against my back his arms wrapped around me pulling me flush against him. His hands cupped my breasts and I leaned back into him resting my head against his shoulder.

"Do you know how hard it is," he pressed his prominent bulge into my ass, "to maintain control when everyone in that place wanted a piece of you?"

I moaned before answering, as his fingers found my already hardened nipples, "Not anymore than it is for me to watch woman salivate over you."

"Aw, but I get to feel the lust."

"You should be flattered you get such an awesome mate."

He didn't agree with my assessment if I took the snarl he gave me correctly. I didn't think he would. Having your mate lusted after by a few was one thing but by a whole bar was another. It was hard for both of us.

We spent the next hour showing each other whose mates we were.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

When we came up for air we spent some time trying to find water. The sun was getting higher and I needed to bathe. My hair was coming out of my braid and I smelled of sex, blood and bar.

It took us awhile but we finally found a stream and followed it down the mountain until it widened and dropped into a small pool big enough for both of us.

We washed off our leathers as best we could and laid them away from the water about twenty feet on a rock in the sun to dry. The pool we found was beautiful but with the close proximity of the trees it was also completely shaded.

I watched Jasper as he stepped into the mountain water, wading out into the middle. Being away from the others didn't alleviate any of his growing tension. I'd been trying to rack my brain why he would be closing himself off now and stewing over it. What had changed?

Monstress and I fretted over our mate.

Nothing at Rucker's came to mind. Our conversation with Rucker didn't seem to bother him; his tension really didn't start until after we left. Maybe one of our team said something upsetting? I couldn't think of anything they said that would set him off.

Besides, once we were away from them you would think he wouldn't be acting like this. After our sexual escapades his tension had come back, so it wasn't that.

Once he'd fed he seemed in a better mood.

Maybe that was it.

Human blood.

Replacing the animal blood and finding balance in his system would take time. Getting used to the feel of it again, after so many years, could make for wild mood swings…that was for sure. But he realty hadn't had any mood swings since he was consuming it again on a regular basis; however, he was still consuming animal blood, too.

Maybe it was too much blood. I knew I had been consuming more than I usually did. But if Jasper was going to feed on both maybe he just needed to find his balance. Maybe it was making him edgy.

I didn't see that as very possible for what was going on with him right now. That explanation didn't feel right.

I joined him and let him brood for a little while until I couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you think, Jasper?" I asked as we lazed around each other floating and staring at the sky through the trees..

He put his feet on the rocks under us and stood waist deep in the water. It wasn't very deep, but damn, it was refreshing.

"Well, I don't know darlin'." He was thoughtful as he watched me swim lazily around him. His tension continued to increase. He tried to hide it, but I could tell from the tightness around his eyes there was something really bothering him.

"You got a bad feeling? How did you feel about Rucker?" I asked tentatively.

"Amazed. I don't have another word for it. To be honest I wasn't sure if this was going to work at all. Maria has people all over the place. I honestly thought we'd run into trouble before now. Now that word is out, the next place we go isn't going to be so easy. We should have started at Mucky Ducks first."

I didn't think that was all if it though. Monstress pawed my lightly in agreement.

"It was going to happen sooner or later, we knew this." I told him, "I have feeling I would rather go up against a couple of renegades rather than Rucker," he agreed, "I wish we had another set of clothing though. I can't believe we were recognized. At least the first time was in a place that was half way civilized." I tried lightening the mood to no avail.

"It could have turned ugly for both of us. I didn't see anyone I knew there. I almost wish we could have met with the guys Shadow was talking about, the ones he says served with me under Maria. I got the feeling he would be bringing them with him when he comes to the summit meeting we're holding." There was a flash of an emotion, before it was gone just as quickly.

Jealousy?

"I got that impression, too. How many did you have under you when you left?" I asked softly as I became still and watched his reaction to this question intently, since he'd shown something other than lust and irritation. It was brief, but as he had talked of Maria and her cohorts, it was there.

We hadn't talked about his time with Maria yet, just the two of us. I wondered if that's what was bothering him so much. Maybe having it confirmed there was more than just Maria who knew the old Jasper was bothering him. They knew the God of War.

"Only a dozen or so," he finally answered. "They were mostly newborns so I thought nothing of it. I never expected to see any of them again. As Rucker told us, 'Major' became a story to scare people. I don't imagine I'm very popular with anyone who would recognize me, especially if they're still with Maria."

Again there was that flash of emotion and my hackles rose as he kept talking, "She wasn't too famous for keeping anyone for more than a couple years at most, so I didn't figure there would be anyone left." I felt the guilt he held through our bond and the tension was rising. So what was that jealousy? This confused the fuck out of me. His shoulders were tight with it and he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"You couldn't have taken them with you," taking a shot in the dark, "without having to go up against Maria." I thought I knew him enough to know from where all the guilt was coming. The other emotion I wasn't so sure.

"We could have tried." His voice changed to a low timber full of some unknown emotion: self-loathing maybe. I had at least hit part of it on the head.

"Were you the only one who was seasoned that she kept at her side?" I asked.

He looked up into the sky, "No. There were two others. One was about ten years old and the other around six." His breathing becoming harsh and the jealousy became more prominent, "We could have tried to go after them. Neither of them had gifts but they were the best fighters we'd ever had. Even so, with my gift, Peter, Char and I could've taken them." He let some of the anger seep into his words as he spoke.

I watched his face as he set his jaw and ground his teeth. I felt my spine stiffen as he warred with himself. I knew Monstress was watching him just as closely as I was.

"Why didn't you try to kill her?" I tried to make my voice as un-antagonistic as I could. My back was now to the bank where we'd come in and Jasper was facing me but eight or so paces away, waist deep submerged in water.

His laugh came out as a short bark. "Honestly? I was her Poppet. She controlled everything and everyone. When Peter and Char showed up I just ran. I didn't think for more than a minute about what I was leaving behind. It did cross my mind to kill her, but… it didn't last long."

I watched his face and the emotions run rapidly across his features as he tried to hide them. He didn't like this subject and I knew he wanted me to drop it.

Monstress and I weren't so easily persuaded.

Taking a 180 degree turn of conversation from our once blissful afternoon with my mate, I think I started seeing the bigger picture.

I realized I had two choices.

I could either push him and make him let the rage out and get to the bottom of this, or I could let him bury it again. If I let him put it back in the box it would poison him further as it had been doing. It was eating him up. I couldn't have that. If I got him to unleash it, however, I could end up dead.

This wasn't how I saw the afternoon going at all when we left Rucker's.

This tension wasn't just going to go away. It was better to get him to try to release some of the anxiety now rather than around our comrades, or worse, at our future destination.

I decided.

I pushed, "Why?" I felt this was a long time in coming for him. The look on his face told me a lot. "Why did you let Maria live?"

"Because I had to Isabella!" he hissed and his body coiled tighter, his knuckles were white as he clenched his fists right above the water. He was looking over my shoulder, but he still wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Why not stay and fight her? You didn't have to let her live, we wouldn't have to be doing this now if you would have just killed her." I scolded.

I knew there was more to the story than what everyone told me. He didn't just run away all happy when Peter and Charlotte came for him. I wanted him to admit it. The jealousy he felt earlier let me know something was brewing much deeper here.

I couldn't say the words weren't going to cut deep once he admitted them, but he needed to say them out loud. We needed to talk about this. Now was as good a time as any I supposed. It would never be comfortable for either of us.

His reaction to going back and killing her brought up one of my worst fears. The jealousy was the tip off.

"I couldn't," he snarled and the rage there came from deep in his soul, as he finally met my eyes.

"Why didn't you kill her, Jasper?" I tried to keep my voice calm with as much command as I could muster. I school my face, as best I could, to be blank and uncaring. I tried to get my emotions to co-operate with me and be void. I knew that wouldn't work, but I could try.

"I COULDN'T!" he bellowed and raised his arms bringing his palms down to slap them on the surface with a smack, water sprayed and splintered around us. "Let it go, Isabella!" he demanded.

In for a penny in for a pound.

"You could have killed her and saved us a hell of lot of trouble. _You_ chose not to." I knew he was close to toppling off that precipice. I was downright accusing now. I was baiting the monster. Come on Jasper, admit it and let it out. "You spared her! She tortured you! Were you such a coward?"

He turned his head away from me and seethed. The rumbling from his chest let me know he was fighting it with every breath he took. I put my legs under me and slowly stood. The water was only waist deep. I found my balance on the rocky bottom and slowly came out of the water.

Pushing Monstress down and back so she wouldn't take over was an inner struggle. She wasn't happy with me, but I needed her to back off.

"Leave it alone, Isabella, I'm fucking warning you!" he barked.

"You chose to leave her alive. _Why_?" My voice snapped at him like a whip. I should have thought about this before. I wanted to smack myself for not thinking about it sooner. I should have thought about what could have happened if we had faced Maria before confronting this. "Why. Did. You. Let. Her. Live? She was _Nothing_!" I growled.

I watched Jasper struggled and nearly spasm. He was panting hard. I wanted to whimper and lay myself at his feet and tell him I was sorry for pushing. I wanted to tell him he didn't have to fight with himself. He could keep his demon in his box. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and make it ok.

What happened to the sunny afternoon?

I pushed the weak thoughts away.

It was better to know now rather than down the line when it really would make a difference.

It was better to let it out and deal with it before we came up against Maria later.

I watched as pain flashed across his face and I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

I knew what was coming. I could feel it in my bones.

I knew why.

I knew what he was going to say.

I knew.

I didn't know how I knew, but I did.

Jasper roared and keened as his muscles rippled as he fought with himself.

This is why I pushed Monstress back. Major wasn't the one coming to the surface and she would distract me with her struggling to save us.

His eyes snapped to mine and I saw the Beast for the first time.

Not Jasper.

Not Major.

But the true Beast that lived deep in the concaves inside Jasper.

I quickly looked at his cheekbones as I took in a shallow ragged breath.

I wasn't stupid. Eye contact at this point could get me dead real fast.

"Because I loved her." he hissed barely above a whisper, "Is that what you want to hear? I loved her." His voice was different, colder… bitter and it increased in volume as the Beast gained momentum, "She was all I knew. She taught me how to survive. To kill. To fuck. Is that what you wanted to hear?" He thrust his head back and howled. There was so much pain and rage my knees came unlocked, but I kept my balance.

I kept my legs under me. That was something.

I couldn't believe how much different he looked now. It was his aura that changed, not his features, but his whole demeanor and pose. He practically reeked of malevolence. I barely recognize him.

His head snapped back down to me when he'd finished his raging howl and I let my eyes settle back onto his cheekbones.

I stayed quiet, holding myself still, as the Beast took my measure. My body stayed locked as I tried not to waver.

Show no weakness.

No fear.

No doubt.

It was a long time in coming. The demon that boiled under the surface searching for the air that Jasper would let him have. The demon was given what he desired as Jasper admitted what he felt was repulsive; however, his inner Beast rejoiced in.

I can't say I wasn't affected by it.

I was.

But I knew this. Somehow I knew this.

I had spent many hours thinking about it. Why had he, Char, and Peter let Maria live? They could have easily taken her. Peter and Char wouldn't talk about it. They told me I didn't want to know, and the feeling I got, they weren't even sure of the answer.

So I sat down one day a few years ago, put myself in Jasper's shoes, and came up with the worst-case scenarios and what it must have truly been like for him. How had he truly survived all that shit? The end conclusion? Was what he just admitted.

I had prayed I was wrong.

Jasper had talked briefly about this before, about his Beast and about Major. We all had a beast within us. We all fought with it. It was part of being a vampire. It would be easy to give into the 'dark side' and let our beast have us. But most fought against it and kept the beast hidden deep. I figured Jasper's Beast had been hidden for many, many years now. Major was a whole other ball a' wax and I had Monstress, who was tucked away nice and securely. I kept her down. Her presence wouldn't be welcomed right now.

Drinking human blood I knew the possibilities as he did, that it could bring his Beast to the surface. With Maria popping back up it was no wonder all this was coming to the forefront. With everything else going on, we just hadn't had the opportunity to talk about any of this at any length. Hearing about Maria so much, Jasper couldn't hold back any longer.

If Maria had been there when she was suppose to be, I wondered how it would have all gone down…

A blessing really that she wasn't.

I thanked Goddess for that small favor.

But Beast was here now.

I stayed quiet because I knew this was only the beginning.

I knew this was just the start of the struggle. Jasper loosing control of Beast as he came raging to come forth and loosing control was scary as fuck.

But it was inevitable.

And I truly deeply and irrevocably trusted Jasper… no matter who was running the show.

Jasper needed to get that poison out of his system; he needed to give voice to his demons. What he said hurt like hell, but I tried to block it off reminding myself what it truly meant and where this would hopefully lead. I didn't miss the past tense of what he said either. I held that close.

"I loved to fuck her. I loved killing." His voice such a melodic evil I would be pissing myself if I could, "I loved taking human life. I loved it. I craved it. It fed my soul." He took a step closer to me and I almost flinched at the hatred he shoveled at me.

We were now seven feet apart at most.

"She was the epitome of what I wanted to be. She was cold-blooded, ruthless. She made my venom sing for her. I wouldn't let anyone kill her." he scoffed at the mere suggestion.

I saw his body was quivering and yet I still stayed silent, waiting. I wondered if the quivering was from Jasper trying to take back control.

"She taught me to feed on humans. We fed together." He laughed maniacally, "to feel her lust with my own as we sucked the blood out of the terrified little weak humans, it was everything. She let me do that with her! _Only me_."

And there it was.

This Beast, this being, this personification of Jasper, was where all the grief, all the murdering rage and hunger went when Jasper and Major couldn't handle it. It was like one of the many boxes I had where I did the same. You had to put your deepest darkest secrets somewhere. Jasper's were just bigger and ten times scarier than mine.

His cravings.

His deep seeded rage.

His bloodlust he couldn't control but somehow did.

His sexual lust for all things walking upright on two legs. It didn't matter what gender it was.

His passion to rip, kill, and murder… it all went to Beast, and Beast in Jasper had become its own being.

Maria did that.

I would fucking kill her with my bare hands.

I didn't move as he stepped to me, now six feet apart, I kept my eyes on his cheekbones. I didn't show my fear on my face, but I knew he could smell the small dose that started to seep from me.

I couldn't contain it, even though I knew it would fuel Beast's desires.

No matter how strong I wanted to be, there's no way when faced with such a sinister presence, that you can contain your terror. You know good and well this could be your death.

"Does that sicken you, Isabella?" his voice a nasty sneer, "You're fear, it smells so sweet," I could feel the anticipation in the atmosphere around us. It was like everything was holding its breath waiting. "It flatters me so. It feeds my soul. Drives my hunger. Is your fear for what you know I'm capable of? Do I scare you? Does it terrify you that I have desires yet unfulfilled by you? Could you give me what I want Isabella? Do you think you're woman enough for me? Do you think you could possibly take her shoes?"

Ok, _that_ pissed me off. I saw red shatter my vision. Trying to get a rise out of me finally worked and against my better judgment and everything I knew, my eyes snapped to his.

The evil I saw there was what I was expecting but to actually witness it was another matter altogether. It almost knocked me flat.

I knew I could never beat him in a fight. He weighed 80 pounds more than I did. He was raw muscle. I could only dream of fighting like he could. With his gift I would never stand a chance against him. The only way I knew I could maybe win this was with my wit and quick tongue. And I wasn't very good at that either. I would be screwed.

Somehow ignoring the last jibe he threw at me I laughed, "Do you find it frightening that you've unfilled _my_ desires? Does it get under your skin that you haven't satisfied _mine_ yet?" My voice was unrecognizable to me. It was a low purr egging him on.

I couldn't take him, but I would be torn a part trying.

His nostrils flared. That incensed him.

That's a good idea; poke the fucking monster with the male ego stick, Izzy.

I felt myself slipping into awareness not unlike the Beast.

I didn't have the pain Beast had.

I didn't have the lust, neither for blood nor for sex.

I was nothing close to Beast.

But the darkness that hid in me I welcomed with open arms.

It was the closest thing to it my boxes had stored and the only defense that might save us.

It was all I had to go up against him. Monstress was hidden in the recess of my mind trying to claw her way out, but I tucked her back down hard. I let all emotions run dry.

I let the fear go.

I let go of everything. I felt my face go blank and let something _other_ take over.

If I didn't, I would be a dead woman.

My power stretched out around us filling me.

"You couldn't possibly have what it takes." He chuckled darkly, "Your little fantasies are nothing. You don't know what I need!" He hissed while his obsidian eyes stared me down. "She did. She knew. She knew what it took to feed me. To get me off. She was everything. I would never let her be killed! Not then, not now!"

I laughed harshly, "You don't think I could fucking take you?" An idea came to me, but I'd have to get him out of the water to do it. "I will kill her. You'll fucking let me, too. Because I _will_ fuck you and feed you like you've never been done before. You want human blood Jasper? You want to feed with me?"

"You wouldn't know where to begin-" I jerked myself backward spinning toward shore letting my power wash out of me into the water helping me propel upward and out faster than he could react. I pushed as much water toward him as I could to slow him down.

Still in the air I let my power redirect to the bindings laid out by our drying clothes. As I landed I heard him roar, fighting the water. I knew the moment his feet hit dry land. He was coming up fast behind me.

Jumping closer to my goal I landed five feet from our clothes on the game trail leading to the water.

I snapped around just in time to sling the bindings as he leapt in the air gunning for me. I held my breath using everything I could to wrap them around his legs as quickly as possible. He was still in the air as I bound them and brought his legs together, cinching them as tight as I could before knotting them off and then pulling them downward bringing Jasper with them, making him fall short of his target. Me.

He crashed to the ground none to pleased and I quickly bound his arms that lay out stretched in front of him as he caught himself from face planting.

It all happened with a couple blinks of an eye.

His snarls and growling howls of contempt filled the air as I rejoiced.

Don't underestimate me.

I would have laughed at the look on his face if I wasn't so amplified and pissed off at the words he spit at me.

Love her? My ass.

Fuck him.

Jasper's Beast roared and struggled against the bindings as I leapt to him, turning him over and straddling his rib cage and arms. I wanted to tie them behind his back, but there was no way I was undoing them to retie them.

His scent changed as his arousal rose from my close proximity. His flavour of spicy leather and man filled my senses and heightened my own stimulation.

"It aint me who has to prove themselves. Looks like I know exactly where to begin." I let my own maniacal chuckle out as I watched him struggled and snap at me.

Was it sick of me to say I was fucking turned on by this? Was it sick of me to rejoice in incapacitating my mate and playing dirty. He hadn't used his gift on me, but I sure as hell used mine on him.

I took the Beast unawares and had him hog-tied for my bidding.

Anticipation soared flowing into my being.

Fuck yes I was turned on.

"You think you can control me, big boy?" I cooed as I looked down into a shocked and raging Beast. Not letting him get his wits I scooted up his chest until my naked body was all he saw. Sitting my ass on his pec's I reached for the sides of his face with both hands letting my fingers slide into his hair and jerk his head off the ground a smidge. I made him look me in the eye.

"You ready to give me what I want? What I desire? Can you handle it? Can you smell me now, asshole? That aint fear you're smellin' boy." My body was a live wire. The adrenaline pumped through my body and mind as I watched his nostrils flare taking my arousal in. His eyes on mine as his chest rumbled beneath me only spurred me on.

He didn't say a word.

"Are you goin' to be a good boy now and please me? Do you think you're man enough for _me_?" Not letting him respond I slid forward letting my bare swollen pussy lips glide over his mouth, "Do you like how I taste?" My feet planted on either side of his head allowed my to swing my body over his face.

I pulled back watching as he licked the moisture off his lip in a slow easy caress that I couldn't help but growl at. I knew in the back of my mind that he could render me near unconscious if he wanted right now. But his roaring lust and rage were battling as I distracted him with my body. And since I was still on him like this I figured his lust was winning out. His eyes were black as night with it.

Hard to pass up pussy when it's on your face.

I slid forward again, "Show me what you got, boy."

He opened his mouth and dug in.

A brief fear shot through me as I thought about him taking a bite out of me but it soon evaporated as his mouth and tongue made contact.

I ground my hips down making him take me. His eyes never left mine as he swirled his tongue around my clit and then dove into my folds. I sat back down on his upper pec's again as I threw my head back in a moan of feral contentment. Letting go of his head I leaned back putting my hands on his lower abdomen and rode his face.

None too gently.

Don't fucking tell me I can't fill someone shoes.

Growling erupted from both of us as my arousal coated his face and dripped down his chin coating my ass and his chest.

"That's it." I taunted, my voice rough and commanding, "You like that? Did she taste this fucking good? I dare say not. AnngGGhhhhh," I snarled and snapped my teeth at him as his teeth nipped my clit and I ground down further into him, "That's right, boy, suck my pussy."

I'm not sure where this was coming from. The fact he was immobile and at my mercy sent electric shock waves up my body. I was in control and there was little he could do about it and that fed this deep dark seed inside me I didn't know was there.

If I let him up he'd be able to rip me apart in a breath, the fact I was riding that danger, literally, thrilled me to now end.

The fact he was letting me, gave me insurmountable hope.

"You like that?" His eyes smoldered at my words as he ground his mouth harder into me, "Fuck yes. Fuck me with that tongue, boy." and I felt his tongue slide into my walls over and over.

I was never happier in my life that vampires didn't have to breath.

"She is _nothing_ compared to me, you best get that in your fucking head." I hissed at him, my teeth gnashing together, "Do you fucking hear me." I reach down with one hand wrapping it behind his head and pulled his face tighter to me as his eyes filled with more lusty rage, "You taste that? That's YOURS. You are MINE. Don't you ever fucking forget it." my voice deep with lust.

I felt his tied hands move as his fingers brushed my wrist on his abdomen and I quickly moved my hand to his hip and pulled his hair with my other hand. I ground my pussy further onto his tongue now once again buried deep in me.

"That nasty bitch is a dead bitch." I spat at him and challenged him with my eyes. He growled. I wasn't sure if in agreement or disagreement. Since he didn't bite me I took it for acceptance.

Fuck it felt good! The vibrations of his continued growling brought a whole new dynamic.

"I will kill that bitch if she touches you. Do you fucking understand that?" His eyes sparked, but for the first time it wasn't with rage. I wasn't sure what that was, "Your mouth, your cock, your body, your mind, your soul, they are MINE and you best remember your manners, boy."

Shifting my weight, I let go of his hair so I could grab his fuck hard cock behind me. If I doubted my actions and how he felt about them, I didn't anymore. I had never felt him this hard. I grabbed him running my hand up and around his swollen head.

Pushing my knees into the earth I trapped his head between my thighs so I could have my hands free.

Knowing he was as turned on by this as I was just seemed to amplify the experience. I wished I had some human blood left. That would have to wait for another day.

I stroked him twice running my thumb up the slit of his head taking his pre-offering before bringing my hand up and licking my fingers. It was the sexual act itself more than the earthy salty taste of him that made my clit twitch.

His feral growl and shake of his head let me know what he thought of that.

"You taste fucking good," I growled back at him. "You like that? You like knowing what your body offers is Mine and Mine alone? Does that make you wanna come? Knowing I own your ass?" I ground out between clenched teeth. "Does it get you hot to know I'll kill a bitch for touching you?"

Licking off his pre-cum I doused my palm with my venomy saliva. My eyes snapped to his as I heard his yowling growl. He pressed his teeth into my swollen flesh outside my entrance as if he wanted to swallow me whole. His eyes were on my tongue as I lubricated my hand and slipped it behind me to stroke him again.

"Good boy." I cooed almost patronizingly, "Eat me good and hard and I'll stroke your cock for you. You come before I tell you and you'll never see my pussy again."

His eyes were lidded heavily as he tried to stare me down.

Nothin' like seeing your man with a face full of your pussy and unable to talk back.

My knees ground into the earth as I pressed into him grinding and bucking as he sucked, bit, nipped, licked and fucked me with his tongue and mouth.

I wasn't gentle as I fucked his face for all he and I were worth.

"Fuck that feels good. Make me come." I growled, I could feel the build he was creating in me and it wouldn't be much longer. I stroked him harder as he bucked into my hand.

"Don't you dare fucking come before me," I panted as I tried to hold off the impending white light of my orgasm. I was close.

Closer.

He moved his mouth up as I gyrated on his face and he took a huge mouth full of my upper cunt around my clit. He sucked hard as twirled his tongue around and around my clit. I felt him flick his tongue up and rub me with the underside of it and the difference in texture, from almost rough, to smooth and silky, pushed me over with just 2 more strokes.

"Come… with… me." I ordered.

I screamed his name as I came throwing my head back mouth open bragging to all that was holy as to how fucking superior it felt. My hand squeezed his cock and I felt it jerk in my hand as he exploded all over me as I flew to the heavens. He pulsed in my hand over and over and knowing my orgasm triggered his just made me spasm that much more.

I panted as I came down moving my ass back moving myself off his face so he could catch his breath as well.

I stared sky in utter ecstasy.

Gathering myself I looked down at him. I could still see Beast in his eyes. But he carried something other than rage as an emotion now. I knew I owned his ass.

"You like making me come?" I laughed softy as he growled at me and his defiance sparked backed into his eyes. I wasn't havin' that.

Reaching down again I grabbed his head in my hands making sure I was the only thing he could see. "You are MINE," I snarled, "Never forget that. I will kill anything that comes near you and that includes that bitch. I am your keeper. I am your world. I am your Mistress. Don't you ever forget that."

I let his binding come undone as he struggled. The defiance didn't scare me. The rage had, but it was mostly gone. I knew I proved my point, and I wanted him to make his. His possessive emotions he was emitting were something I wanted to feel. I wanted him to claim me in the most primal ways.

He did.

In a flash I was under him on my hands and knees as he mounted me. His feet planted on either side of my knees with his cock pressed between my ass cheeks.

Leaning over me he grabbed my hair and I felt him wrap it around his wrist as he jerked my head back, "You pussy is _Mine_." I had never heard anything better.

He snarled in my ear and slammed into me. My arousal dripped down my thighs and splattered to the ground.

"You better brace yourself, this won't be easy." He snarked harshly as he let out a dirty little chuckle.

"Thank Goddess." I whispered which got me an answering hair pull and a thrust that scooted me inches into the ground. My head was pulled back far enough I could see the clouds rolling in above us.

"You look so fucking good submitted to me, darlin'," His lips grazed my ear, his voice rough and demanding, "You think you can handle the Beast? Brace yourself, you're in for ride."

"Fuck yes," I snapped and thrust my hips higher in the air arching my back and taking him deeper.

Growling as he speared me he didn't hesitate to pull back and pounded into me again.

It was his turn to swear.

"You. Are. Mine." He hissed enunciating every word with a thrust of his hips driving himself in as deep as he could. I had never heard anything better.

"Do you like that Isabella? Do you like how I make you feel? Do you like that I own you?"

"Yeeeeeesss," I hissed and pushed back in rhythm with him, "Fuck, yeeess."

"I'll make you fucking scream! NO one touches you but me! You hear me little girl?" I growled as he threw my words back at me.

Leaning over me fucking me as if we were two wild beasts was the hottest thing I could ever imagine. It was primal and so feral I was panting hard to just keep myself from falling over the edge again.

I wanted it to last.

I wanted to savor it.

My mouth was full of venom I had to spit rather than swallow because my neck was so wrenched back I couldn't possibly.

His hold on my hair jerked back further bringing my neck to his mouth scraping his teeth on his mark. I came hard and long as I felt him do the same, both of us howling to the trees, as my body clamped around him.

"Oh fuuuuuuck." I whimpered, spat, moaned all the while he growled in my neck as he started all over again.

Holy shit.

It seemed endless. Being able to control his emotions and feed off those around you he had told me, could keep him hard as long as he wanted.

He seemed to want to prove those words. There was enough lust in me to feed a fucking army of empath male vampires for a month and he was feeding off of it and his own.

Hot damn.

He pounded my flesh, never relinquishing the hold on my hair, as I had no choice but to completely submit to him. I closed my eyes and relished in the fact that this wasn't Jasper or Major claiming me.

This was Beast.

Hell fucking yes.

I came two more times; it was unavoidable as he let his lust rush into me and we fed off each other.

He wrapped his arm he'd had on the ground near mine up under me and found my swollen clit. Pinching it hard I came. He grabbed my shoulders with both hands and slammed as far in me as he could before he released with screaming roar to god.

Fuck me.

SO good.

We collapsed on the ground in a pile and lay breathing harshly.

Who knew sitting your pussy on a beasts face to eat could tame it?

Not me.

But I'd do again any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Even after I caught my breath as I lay under him, I could feel my body vibrating. My putang was actually throbbing and a little sore. That was a true testament as to how hard we fucked.

I could feel his now easy breath coming out across my neck and it settled me like never before.

I closed my eyes relishing in the feel of him pinning me to the forest floor.

He didn't move and I was in no hurry to make him.

I could feel the tension had left his body. There was a euphoria surrounding us now that hadn't ever been present. It was soothing.

After what seemed like a couple hours he nuzzled my neck and I felt his breath stir my hair.

"Are you ok?" Jasper was back. His whispered inquiry stirred my heartstrings. I thought it actually fluttered there for a moment.

"Yes," I whispered back.

I moved a little and he lifted his body to accommodate me rolling over. I pulled him to me when he hesitated so he rested once again on my body.

Holding me down.

Grounding me.

I caught his eyes and although I couldn't feel it in the bond, I saw fear there in his beautiful depths.

Reaching up I cupped his face, "That was quite a ride." I said trying to let him know I was truly ok.

A tiny smile quirked the edge of his mouth and quickly disappeared, "You weren't afraid." A statement of fact.

"No, yes, no. You smelled my fear."

He swallowed hard, "I could have hurt you."

"Yes, but you didn't."

"Didn't he, didn't I disgust you?" he whispered.

I shook my head, "No. Did I disgust you?" it went both ways.

He shook his head, "It was, uh," he cleared the venom from his throat as he flicked his eyes from me and then back and I saw them smolder as he admitted, "It was kinda hot."

I laughed, "Just kinda," and his answering toothy smile was answer enough, "Yes, I agree."

He relaxed a little pressing more of his weight on me.

"What he… what I said about Maria…" he started and then seemed to struggle with his words. I waited because I knew he needed to say it as much as I needed to hear it. "That part of my life is over, but it's a huge part of my Beast. Was." He corrected, "He's how I survived all those years with her. There's a part of me…" he closed his eyes and his face filled with pain as he opened them he started intently into mine, "He's a part of me, so what I said was the truth."

I nodded. "I know. And I'm not going to pretend it doesn't hurt to hear you say it. But it's a part of you, and I love all of you. I understand it Jasper."

He scoffed, "How can you understand? I don't even understand! It makes me sick to know that there is a part of me who craves what I lived with Maria. There's this part of me that will always crave that. I actually felt jealousy when I realized I could know the people still with her. That she kept others besides for so long. How can you be ok with that? I'm not ok with that."

"It's part of you. You are my mate. In all honesty, Jasper, it does scare me a bit. It makes me sad. It makes _me_ jealous and pissed. It scares me you could go back to her and want to live with her. I want you to know though, I would do anything for you. If we need to feed on humans instead of a bag of human blood, then we'll figure that out. But I'll tell you right now; _you will never go back to her. EVER_!"

"I don't want to go back to her!" he growled. Good to know, "I don't want to feed on humans either! How can that be ok with you?"

I let out a huge breath and tried to come up with the words, "We are vampires, Jasper. There is no changing that. Does that part of my nature… our nature scare me? Yes. Fuck yes. Do I rejoice that there is a part of me who resents drinking human blood out of a bag? No. Do I contain it and try to control it. Yes. It's who we are as people. I take human life seriously. When I feed off humans I try to be selective-"

"You still feed on humans regularly?" I noticed he was more curious than appalled.

"Yes and no. I try not to. There's not a five and dime at every block, Jasper. But there are a lot of bad humans out there just as there are bad vampires. They prey on the weak. I like to prey on them. Peter and Char do, too. We don't do it often. Picking out the bad from the good is hard to do. It's not something you can just walk down the street and say 'hey there's a bad guy I bet he molests his kids'. It takes a while to do it properly to make sure you don't take someone… it's hard. But when we go to battle in the places we've been, these places we've taken down, sometimes we need more than just a bag to replenish us. Especially if we get hurt. No matter how well we prepare for trips, it's inevitable. We don't always have blood on hand. _Not_ feeding is more dangerous. There are always people around who could use a good killin'."

He was quiet, looking at the ground instead of me.

"Does that change your opinion of me?" I asked quietly when it didn't appear he was going to say anything.

His eyes met mine again and he slowly shook his head, "I'm just afraid if I let that part of myself out again…"

"You don't have to."

"What if I _want_ to, Isabella?" He snarled as he fought with himself and me.

"Then I will support you and we'll work through it. Together. I'm never letting you go. You can't do anything that will make me want to leave."

"I'm not so sure about that. You don't know what he's… I'm capable of. What if I can't contain the beast?"

"But you can, and if you couldn't it wouldn't make me love you any less. He's a part of you. End of story. I'm not going anywhere. If you decided that's what you wanted to try… then I'm with you. I can't just live off of human blood Jasper. My gift won't let me. But I would never condemn you for choosing who you want to be and what you want to do. Never."

He slowly let out a long breath and rested his forehead on my shoulder. "What if I get near Maria and the Beast comes out? What happens-"

"You don't think I gave him a good enough time? Not enough possibilities?" I laughed, "I'm not letting you get anywhere near Maria unless it's to kill her."

"You can't –"

"Yes I can and I will. And if I couldn't I would die trying. You're out numbered. Peter and Char… and the rest of them… they wouldn't let it happen. IF you run from me I'll chase you down and hog tie your ass again. You can't run forever." I wrapped my arms and legs around him, "You're MINE!" I mock snarled and nipped my mark on his neck.

He laughed and when he looked at me his eyes sparked with the light I'd come to love in his eyes. There's my Jasper.

"You're something else, you know that?"

"I know."

He burst into more laughter, "I'm glad you're still so modest."

It was my turn to laugh.

Jumping up Jasper helped me up and we ran to the stream again. I knew our talk wasn't over. I knew there were things we needed to discuss further, but for right now we both needed a break from the topic and the raw emotions.

We swam and played for a while until Jasper pulled me into his arms and whispered, "Tell me."

I cocked my head at him and smiled, "I love you."

"I love you too, Isabella, but I meant your gift, tell me about it." he encouraged.

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitatingly.

"Yes." He nodded.

Why not. Even if Maria saw… Fuck it. I was tired of curtailing my actions to someone else's reactions. Jasper wanted to know and right now the pros out weighed the cons.

"When you let out your gift, what do you detect?" I asked him.

"Anyone in a couple mile radius if I wanted." He replied.

"Animals?"

"Yes. Now anyway. I couldn't feel them before like I can now. It was dull with no substance, now there's more substance, if that makes sense."

"Can you feel anything besides people and animals?" I asked, I didn't think so, but you never knew.

"No, can you?"

"Yes. I can feel everything down to the atoms."

His eyebrows shot into his hairline.

"It's almost as if I'm part of it all. Well, I am part of it all. We all are." I shrugged, how to explain this?

"That's a pretty intense and deadly." I was proud he was extremely impressed with me.

"Mmm." I agreed, "It took a long time to understand how to control it. To separate it from me. Rein it in? Vampires can think about so many things at once and not controlling it creates my environment to react to the multitude of registry in my head."

"Registry?"

"Do you remember waking up to this life," I asked a little apprehensive of the answer and to touch on the subject so soon. I knew it couldn't be good, but it was the best way to explain it.

"Yes," his voice rough, "I do darlin'."

"Ok, then you remember how your new brain cataloged everything you were seeing, recognizing it and categorizing it as it happened?"

"I see where you're going with this."

"Our new brain saw so much more than it used to all at once, it broke it down creating lists and… well categorizing it for us. Once categorized, we forgot it and moved on, although it's always present and we are always aware of it, it's not a conscious thing anymore. Well. The categorizing and pushing it away triggered chaos since I didn't know how to reel in my gift. Does that makes sense? My gift was still aware and attached to the list. Shit I'm not making any sense."

"Your gift has a personality of it's own."

I laughed, "I guess you could say that. I learned over time to feel it and manipulate it."

"No, I get it, I think I understand. It's like my gift. When I woke up I didn't know I was projecting my feelings. I made the newborns already there and Maria as well, feel what I was feeling. I know now why Maria knew I was gifted and what was happening. She was told before hand. But I get it, I do. My environment, or the people around me reacted to my mood."

"YES! It took a long time for me to be able to control my gift as a separate thing. Especially when I was thirsty. That first couple of years was… terrifying in a lot of ways. I'm amazed Nevell hung out as long as he did or at all."

A little growl came from Jasper's chest, "You guys are really close aren't you?"

"In some ways yes. He saved me from myself. Saved a lot of humans that otherwise would've been road kill. He knew about the Cullens and helped find Peter and Charlotte. It's amazing how small the world feels when shit like that happens, like you and Rucker. I mean, how is that possible? How you didn't even know your lives were interwoven like that and then meet up when you least expect it." I shrugged. I didn't know how to articulate it.

"It is a small world." Kissing my lips lightly he moaned before pulling back, "Can you imagine what we could do together with our gifts? Whatever you could come up with I could manipulate the fear in our advisories."

"What about beings? You can't move them at all? You can't manipulate them?"

"No, unfortunately. The only reason I can move the stuff made from the ashes is because there's enough other stuff mixed in with it. I moved the elements mixed with the ash, not the ash itself." I explained. "My gift has many limits. It's not all that impressive in this line of work."

"I beg to differ." He chuckled.

"Your gift. How much manipulation can you project? Can you incapacitate your enemy with fear alone?" I asked.

"I don't know how it is for you, but I can only do it in small numbers. In battle it takes complete concentration to be able to project it into the right ones." He told me.

I understood, "That's how it is for me too. One on one is easy, even up to three, after that it gets muddled and hard to pay attention to everything, even with the capacity we have to pay attention to multitude of things at once. I found that out the hard way more than once. I get easily sidetracked wanting to do too many things at once. It leaves me vulnerable."

"We need to practice together sometime. See what we can come up with to enhance each others gifts."

"Anytime." I grinned.

"We should get going," his face turned to the sky. I looked up and realized it was much later than I thought it was. I could get lost in this man within seconds.

It was after midday by the time we reluctantly put our clothes back on and made our way to the rendezvous point. Ivan made sure to comment about us being late and midday was not five in the evening. I told him to fuck off and Ivan laughed telling Jasper he had his hands full with 'that one'. Ass. That led to a sparring match. Jasper still had some pent up crap he needed to release, who better than Ivan to unleash it on?

Neither Jasper nor I wanted the other near the males or females. So we separated into boys against boys and girls against girls.

Rod, Melvin and Ivan were disappointed but didn't argue as did Cherish and Mona.

None of them knew what had happened this afternoon, but just our being newly mated was enough for them to agree.

I could feel how raw Jasper and my emotions were even to the point of vulnerability from our previous activities today. Eventually we both found ourselves on the edge of activity, my back to Jasper's front as he encased me in his arms, as we watched the others. Small touches and a kiss here and there placed strategically to reassure ourselves of our bond and our love. It helped to comfort one another that the shit we opened today was nothing that would break us.

I had been naïve in believing that my fears had no fruition to them. I knew things didn't just right themselves overnight or that with everything going on it would stop road blocks cropping up for Jasper and I. But I had started to think my fears were unfounded before today.

I had ignored Jasper's growing tensions and discomfort and passed them off as just nerves from all the things that had happened in the last couple weeks. I wouldn't do that again. I wanted to kick myself, but hindsight is 20/20 and there was nothing I could do about it now. We took care of it or at least started the ball rolling anyway. I was comfortable knowing Beast had claimed me….us. That eased my tensions as well as Jasper's.

Watching Ivan was a hoot. His antics and accented harassment of the others was always a good show. He was creative with his insults. When you were on the receiving end it wasn't so amusing, but to watch him release it on others… you couldn't help but snicker.

I loved the hell outah Ivan. Truly I did. I liked the others just fine as well, but Ivan was his own breed. He was one of my favorite people and favorites to spar with because he didn't hold back when fighting me. Fighting with him now wouldn't have gone over good with Jasper for another reason if he knew just how much of a Scotsman Ivan truly was, which I'm sure he found out today. Ivan wore his kilt just as a true Scotsman would. I'd found that out when sparring with him many years ago, he'd make his mate a happy woman someday when he found her, that's all I'm sayin'. He looked like he walked off one of those love novel romance books and had a package to back it up.

At dusk we took off. It would only take an hour and a half to get to Mucky Ducks since we'd waited out the last of the sunshine a mile into the tree line in the direction we were headed.

I felt better, lighter now that Jasper and I… rather Beast and I shared some time together. Didn't hurt my lady bits any either; they were well sated for the moment.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=)**

The place we were going to now was quite different from the laid back atmosphere in comparison to Rucker's. Rucker's had a reputation for rough and tumble and had seemed it couldn't have been further than the truth.

This place?

Holy hell.

Literally.

As Jasper and I walked across the huge parking lot slowly to Mucky Ducks, I got that feeling this wouldn't be as easy or diplomatic as what we just experienced.

The place wasn't far from civilization at all. Maybe 50 miles or so away was a small town filled with humans. I wondered how they kept themselves hidden, and if they didn't how they kept everyone's mouths shut. This wasn't the mountains anymore, this was desert and was easily accessible to humans. If nothing else the actual road leading here was proof to that.

I blinked as we crossed the sandy expanse of lot filled with cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles. Really? Bicycles? What the hell? Looking into the dilapidated two-story warehouse nestled against the rocky bluff; I wasn't surprised to see both dhampirs and ghouls mixed with vampires in the place. I wasn't surprised either this time to see humans mulling in the batch. What did surprise me was the number of them here. Maybe that's where the bicycles came from. There were at least seven that I could see mingling among the forty or so preternatural. That was a lot considering what this place represented.

The warehouse appeared to have once been a small old factory made from concrete and brick. Boarded up windows on the first floor left your imagination to run wild of what the inside held. The six large windows on the second floor were mostly just the left over mesh from where someone had smashed the glass out. Huge holes led you to believe rocks were the cause of that and no one had bothered to replace it. Curtains blew in the breeze on the second floor blocking our view, bringing the flavour of sex, sweat, and blood to my tongue.

Fresh blood.

I guess they didn't abhor to no blood being spilled on premises. I shuttered at the idea of what was truly going on in this place.

Not all ghouls stuck to beef, chicken, pork or whatever other animal they could get their hands on. I knew some ate humans. They said it made them stronger, just as human blood made us stronger. I'd seen it happen before and it was something I tucked it into the back of my brain in my 'never open' box. Who was I to judge? Like I had told Jasper, there wasn't a Human Jiffy Bank o' Blood on every corner.

So, in a place like this where you could smell sex, blood, and death with humans milling around amongst the preternatural, you don't have to use your imagination to know what was taking place here, or what could happen to those humans. I just wondered what why the humans stuck around.

I told Jasper what I saw and registered, Jasper relayed the feeling of the place was filled with lust, tension, anger, resentment, jealousy, fear, bloodlust and a slew of negative emotions. He of course scented the same things I did.

We agreed quickly we wouldn't be giving our weapons up as Rucker suggested. I didn't see that being a problem anyway since there wasn't anyone manning the door. We wouldn't be staying long either.

Halfway across I wondered if we'd made the right choice in coming here as an obvious fight from inside broke out. If it were up to me I wouldn't be letting the goings on here continue much longer. I said as much to Jasper.

"I'm with ya, darlin, but now is not the time." He was a little put out in that decision and sent me his resignation that we wouldn't be kicking ass today. I was a bit pouty at that which Jasper felt and seemed amused by. A good fight never hurt anyone, especially for a good cause.

Mac warned us this place would probably be better left untouched. After a debate we decided it had to be done. These people supposedly had connections to Maria in a round a bout way. Coming here could be our key to flushing Maria out. Knowing the flamethrower frequented here just increased my desire to come.

I just hoped we found someone decent enough to talk to.

As it turned out, it all didn't matter.

Our feet stalled when we neared the double wooden doors as it came crashing outward smashed to bits. Two snarling spitting vampires wrapped around each other trying to give their teeth purchase, came flying through it.

Can we say transported into a western movie?

!Ay Caramba!

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**A/N**

Thank you to all the readers who reviewed and those who read and continue to read this story.

A huge thanks to those that pimp Monstress out… she's indebted to your dedication and generosity!

I've been reading outside Fanfiction this week and don't have any rec's, sorry.

That's a lie I do have one:

REC: **Vague Summaries & FanFiction Cliches by Jesicka309 ~ It's so fucking funny! And oh so true. All writers at one point or another are guilty of one or more of her out looks into fanfiction. **

Tell me what you thought of our Beast. I think now that he's been out once he'll be easier to get out again. Bwahahaha.

Enjoy your week!

Let me know the good and the bad!


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N**

**I paid good money, hooker! Do what I tell ya! **Smack****

**Lol~ This Chapter is crazy!**

**Thanks all you wonderful people, great reviews! Ya'll make me blush. **

_**Thanks to my Beta Letusdance for guiding my words into an order to which ya'll can read them! Thanks to Bripearl for taking time and pre-reading even though she's busy, busy, busy! I'm truly grateful.**_

**SM owns Twilight~ I own Izzy's Monstress **

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_Previously;_

_Mac warned us this place would probably be better left untouched. After a debate we decided it had to be done. These people supposedly had connections to Maria in a round a bout way. Coming here could be our key to flushing Maria out. Knowing the flamethrower frequented here just increased my desire to come._

_I just hoped we found someone decent enough to talk to._

_As it turned out, it all didn't matter._

_Our feet stalled when we neared the double wooden doors as it came crashing outward smashed to bits. Two snarling spitting vampires wrapped around each other trying to give their teeth purchase, came flying through it. _

_Can we say transported into a western movie? _

_!Ay Caramba!_

**~Mucky Whores~**

**~Izzy POV~**

Jasper tucked me behind him as we scrambled backwards and stood gaping at what was transpiring in front of us. I felt truly thrown into a western. Maybe this was a joke?

The bar seemed to empty out right after the brawlers, the patrons cheering on the venomous pair. Monstress was awake now and was none-to-pleased with me for shoving her down earlier, but she quit grumbling and perked up at the action.

The crowd was shouting out bets to which would be the victor. They encouraged, chanted, and jeered for their combatant as they made a large loose circle around them. Ivan and Cherish blurred to our sides flanking us unassumingly, but ready to back us up in whatever was about to happen.

I met Jasper's eyes with the question of whether to stop it or not evident in both our eyes. Jasper shrugged a shoulder and shook his head. It could just be a bar fight.

I guess we wouldn't be interfering for the moment. I tried to come around Jasper and he quickly countered me keeping me behind him. My temper flared.

He leaned back turning so I would only hear as he whispered to me, "Humour me. Please."

I huffed and quietly relented but I let my emotions show how unpleased I was about it. Not that it did me any good.

We watched as the struggling twosome tore at each other and grappled for the upper hand. The dry earth from the summer's heat became a dust cloud as they rolled around on the ground like 5th graders, neither showing promise of being victorious.

They slammed into the cars parked thirty feet away from the building and one of the humans yelled to get off his car. I thought that was very brave.

The shuffling chanting crowd of people spanned out separating into two sides, thus boxing in the fighting duo and making them stay between them, the cars, the building and themselves.

We watch the debris cloud grow to a point no one could see anything through it.

Suddenly the well-known keening noise of metallic grating filled our ears coming from the dust ball. Then the screaming of someone loosing a body part rose up around us.

I couldn't stand not seeing what was going on and I stretched out my power grabbing the fine red sandy dust and blew it through the other side of onlookers. Since all their mouths were open yelling they all got a mouth full of dirt. I snickered and Jasper shook his head in front of me knowing full well what I had done. But fuck I could see now and there was no way I was apologizing for that.

We'd let ourselves be jostled a bit and we now stood in the middle of the right side of the two crowds. People around us didn't stand close to us as if they knew we didn't belong here. I think Jasper's gift had something to do with that. We got odd looks but, for the most part, people just moved away from us subconsciously.

Before us we could see one vampire on the ground rolling around trying to get away while holding his gaping shoulder while the other beat him with his own arm.

I wanted to scream, 'stand up you fuck stick! Fight!' My body's endorphins responding to the fight like a bee to honey.

I could feel Jasper's body responding the same as mine. I didn't even care who was right or wrong, or what the fight was about, I just wanted action.

The guy on the ground wasn't faring too well with trying to block blows from his own arm being used to smack him.

Loosing a limb for a vampire is an extremely painful occurrence. Every nerve ending from wherever you lost a body part is exposed to the elements and anything that comes into contact with those nerves is excruciating. From what I had heard you can also feel your lost limb as well. Double whammy.

The closest I'd come to loosing one was from a vampire who got a hold of my leg in mid air. He tore the tendons and ligaments separating tissue, but I was fortunate enough to keep it attached and wrench free before he tore it from my body. That was painful enough. It wasn't hard for my body to repair. I've known it to take several days to completely heal and reattach a severed limb as small as a finger. It wasn't as straightforward as simply holding it to your body.

You're body's veins, muscle, nerves, tendons, ligaments, bone, and cartilage all had to line up and find each other then begin to re-attach itself. You could easily put your body together at the wrong angle and it would take even longer to correct itself. You needed blood, as well, as your body needed all the reserves for the process.

This poor soul who lost his arm began to scream something at his attacker in Spanish making demands he wanted his sister back.

The crowd hushed as the argument grew.

"You're fucking sister is a whore. She doesn't want to go with you!" the one beating him up screamed back at him. "She's mine for the night! I paid good money for that slut!"

"She's not a whore! Let her go. I have money to pay her debt! Just give her back!" Torn and leaking venom the man prone on the ground pleaded.

"I paid good money and she likes servicing my dick!" The guy grabbed his jean-clad dick and rubbed.

"You're sick! I want to talk to Ramanda!"

"Jasper." I whispered and felt at a loss of what to do first.

Before we could discuss anything, a woman stepped out of the tavern, warehouse, er, whorehouse through the broken doors silencing the crowd, and walked toward the arguing pair. I recognized her immediately.

A scuffle and cry at the entrance behind her had everyone turning their heads to see two beefy male vampires dragging a small petite, scantily clad, vampire girl out of it thrashing and trying to bite her handlers.

The men dressed in orange shirts and jeans struggled to hold on to her keeping their extremities from her snapping jaws.

"Let me go!" the girl yelled, trying again to twist away from them, her feet leaving the ground as she fought their hold.

"Mistress wants to see you." one of them told her and pulled her roughly down the two broken steps.

'Mistress' had stepped into the edge of the crowd, maybe five feet short of Jason.

"I can walk myself asshole." The girl's words came out stronger than I would have expected from a wee bit of a girl whose face betrayed her fear, as she tried to jerk her arm out of the two brute's hold.

The girl finally looked up comprehending her surroundings rendering her mouth to stop flapping and her eyes to widen. Her attention landed to the man whimpering on the ground. Her face turned into one of shock and pain before she could school it.

"I told you, Jason, to stay out of this." She hissed as the three stopped a couple feet from the kid struggling to sit up at the sound of her voice.

"You can come home, Lacy! I have the money for your debt, you can come home and not do this anymore." His excitedly pleaded to her.

The men let go of her and stepped back.

There was a flash of hope on Lacy's face and she tried to take a step forward but stopped short as the woman who had preceded her stepped forward intervening the reunion. The hope was instantly wiped off Lacy's face and replaced with unabashed fear.

The woman leveled Lacy with a glassy eyed stare and slowly raised an eyebrow at her. Lacy's whole demeanor seemed to change; she quickly looked back at Jason with urgency.

"I want to be here." her voice shook at the force of the lie leaving her lips and she straightened herself and jutted her chin out. The woman slowly smiled, a look of triumph appearing with her sneer giving Lacy a quick nod of approval.

Oi. Are you fucking kidding me?

I had recognized the lace and satin woman immediately from the picture Mac had given us. Ramanda, the she-devil owner of this fine establishment had unmistakably made an unimpressive impression on me.

The woman was my height, maybe a hundred years old or so with raven hair that came to her shoulders enhancing her creamy olive skin riddled with scars. Her tits were quite small but perky like any vampires breasts and they strained against her too small shear blue satin camisole top. It was evident by the hard nipples she was getting off on this. The top ended where her long flowing lacy see-through white skirt took over. It swirled and tightened to her body letting anyone who wanted a peek preview of what they would get.

Her eyes were deep red from recent feeding I noted.

Cherish was only a couple of feet behind me and she whispered breathlessly, "This can't be good." She seemed to be as enraptured by the events as everyone else was.

I agreed. The girl Lacy was dressed in a spandex mini skirt and tight tank top, both leaving very little to the imagination. If she bent over I was positive of the show everyone would receive. I could smell sex and blood on her from here. She'd been rode hard and put up wet. Her eyes were black as pitch. She was hungry. I couldn't believe she wasn't gnashing to get at the humans.

Lacy couldn't have been more than 16 or 17 when she was changed and I would imagine not much older than that now. If I had to guess she was less than five vampire years old. Barefoot, her clothing was dirty and her hair didn't look like it had been brushed…. ever. It matted itself halfway down her back in filthy golden chunks.

I noticed the scars wracking her body. Her arms, a few on her chest, her legs, they seemed to spread under her clothing. The poor child. The worst I noticed as I studied her were her feet. Both had the telltale markings that they had been once removed. Holy mother…. My heart ached for her.

"You don't have to be here. Stick up for yourself Lacy. You deserve better than this. You don't have to do this anymore! I have the money, you can be free!" Jason pleaded quickly with her. "Just tell her!"

"Enough!" Ramanda commanded in flowing Spanish, stepping forward. She bent down to Jason and yanked his head up by his dirty blonde mop of hair. Taking his attention from Lacy to her, "I told you the last time you came here I would not tolerate you messing with my talent. Lacy needs to pay me back for the loss she cost me. It is not your debt to pay. No amount of money could replace what she took. Now," still holding his hair she turned to the vampire who had been beating him, "give me his arm."

Jasper whispered without turning his head, "What do you want to do?"

The vampire handed her the arm reluctantly and stepped back. The woman took the arm, turned back to Jason's moaning form, and slapped him with it making me stiffen and Jason cry out. "I only give one warning. I thought you learned your lesson last time you came. I will not tolerate you interfering. Lacy is mine. She owes me a debt that cannot be paid back with money. She took from me a life, and I will only take HER life in servitude, as long as I see fit, as payment."

"She was a NEWBORN!" Jason screamed, "It's your fault you left her to wake up alone!"

I was getting a clearer picture now.

"If we take them on," I whispered, "we're running the risk of taking them all on." I breathed. Knowing full well my COM would let the others hear me.

I let out a heavy sigh and I eyed the crowd again assessing what we were up against. I moved a little so I could get a better look.

Besides the two beefy vampires who brought the girl out, there were two other beefcakes flanking Ramanda now. They looked as if they could be part of her squad. I didn't see any others as I swept the crowd again. Blinking from infrared and back again, I didn't see anything I didn't already know.

"I see four that'll be a big problem."

"There's a fifth coming through the door." Jasper told me and I leaned forward a tad and moved only my eyes to see that indeed there was another looking like he was of the Ramanda's gang. They stood out in the crowd in their orange t-shirts tucked neatly into their dark Levis. Every one of them was wearing cowboy boots.

As we'd been whispering and consorting the charade in front of us had continued with slinging insults.

"…. Of your concern. Lacy wanted this life, she was given her life, and now she owes me for what she took from me." Ramanda spit, "As for you, I see you will not give up so now another life will be wasted."

Jasper stiffened before me and heard him breathe a harsh breath out his nose.

"_There aren't any on this side who looks too threatening_," Ivan's voice came through my COM, not loud enough for anyone to hear. Ivan and Cherish stood back enough they could get a look without cranking their heads around.

Ramanda tried to drag Jason to his feet as he gave every effort to wrench himself from her. Jason, I realized, wasn't much older than Lacy, in both human and vampire years. I wondered if they really were brother and sister.

I wanted to take the woman, Ramanda, and bang her head into some asphalt for a while until I cracked her skull. I slipped my hand up and undid the clasp on my Katana at my right hip. My entire body was tensed and coiled readying to strike. Monstress clawed and kneaded me trying to urge my thoughts into action. But I stood rigid fighting the urge. Jasper, in front of me, wasn't doing much better. It had gone too far, it was time to intervene.

"Melvin, you guys move in behind us, stay back out of sight until it breaks loose. One of you stay back and take out any runners." Jasper whispered. I moved to stand more to the left side of Jasper giving me more room to strike and he let me this time.

"_Copy, boss_." Then we heard the tell tale whoosh of running in our ears as the three moved into position. Cherish and Ivan moved apart giving a wider berth for their strike. No one seemed to notice our new stance or our incoming back up. Everyone was focused on Ramanda.

It had only been maybe four minutes since Ramanda came out of the door, less than a minute to organize an attack while we watched.

Ramanda, meanwhile, finally got a good hold on the boy, brought him up by the hair and good arm, and started to address the crowd. "Everyone knows I do not tolerate insubordination or interference in my establishment. Let this be a lesson to all of you. Sabian! _Come here_!" she liked to repeat herself. Good for us, bad for her.

A man I presumed was Sabian, stepped out of the crowd behind her. I hadn't really paid much attention to him. He wasn't wearing the orange the others were, but a black tee-shirt instead. He made six vampires on her side.

"Damn it." I hissed.

He was short, but the muscles on this guy, whoa, his neck had to be a foot thick. I was surprised he could walk as huge as his thighs were. His arms looked funny as they hung at his sides. They were longer than one would believe someone of his stature would and as muscle-bound as the rest of him.

"Crush him." Ramada demanded and held the boy as he screamed. I centered my power quickly on my target readying myself for the fight.

Jasper stepped forward quickly as the Sabian fellow flexed and stepped to his target, "I don't believe we'll have a need for Sabian's assistance today." His voice low and commanding as Sabian's knees gave out at whatever Jasper was shoveling at him. Sabian growled and fought against Jasper's gift with obvious effort but he didn't get off his knees.

The entire place turned to us and I didn't need my mate's gift to know the shock, fear and excitement filling the air. The fighting wasn't over yet and they were ready to watch. Or join.

Ramanda's eyes slit with such anger as she nailed Jasper with a glare I thought would cause him to combust on the spot. Ramanda snapped her head to yet another of her wanna-be-bad-asses behind her and whispered something I didn't catch. The man looked up at us and nodded. He wasn't wearing the tell tale orange either.

Seven.

Crrrrrappp.

"_Nuuuuffftttt_." Monstress agreed.

This can't be good as the red headed man suddenly looked like a mirage. His appearance seemed to quiver. Blinking rapidly changing forms of sight I noticed his 'heat signature' went from vampire to human red. His core temp was heating up.

Fuck me on a pogo stick. I would bet my left tit that was flamethrower. Oh, goody, he _was_ here.

I blinked back to see regularly as Ramanda spoke to us.

"Pyro." I breathed and I didn't need to say more, Jasper acknowledged me by sending his agreement his special way.

I could not believe our luck that the ass was here. The odds were quickly stacking against us.

"What do we have here?" Ramanda sneered, taking a good look at Jasper. A growl deep in my chest began to rumble at the blatant lust written in her eyes as she got a good look at my mate.

Jasper stepped forward further and I followed, putting us now about twenty feet from her. Cherish and Ivan moved slowly as well to hone in on whatever target they'd picked out for themselves.

I pressed back on Monstress who was straining against me urging me forward.

'_Slow and steady'_ I told her. She kneaded my shoulders in anticipation.

"My mate and my friends came for a drink." Jasper clipped. You would never guess he hadn't grown up in Mexico from his own flawless Spanish.

"I got something you can drink, big boy." Ramanda's scent grew stronger. My nostrils flared as the cloying scent of Ramanda's arousal hit me. I wanted to gag. I wasn't the only one. The people around her reacted to the scent as well. Her guards didn't seem pleased and eyed us with new attention.

Monstress came blaringly into my eyes so she could get a personal look at what we both knew we'd be having for dinner. I stepped forward again, and Jasper mimicked me brushing my arm with his fingers just slightly. The skin contact helped.

Energy bounced into me fueling a fire I'd never felt before. Not this badly anyway. Not just protectiveness or possessiveness, but the gritty dirty feeling of wanting to either mark my territory by pulling out my proverbial dick and peeing on Jasper or kill the woman before us. Not just beat her senseless, but a slow torture. I was guessing the response spurred from something to do with the predatory look she eyed MINE with. Her ever-increasing arousal invaded my senses, which didn't help her cause. Didn't she know how to control that shit? Did she have a turn off valve somewhere?

"I'm sure we've got something around here to whet you boy's appetite." She kept talking as she eyed Ivan and Jasper again, ignoring Cherish and I.

Big mistake.

"This is my establishment and you may call me Mistress Ramanda." (Over my dead body.) "I can get you whatever you need right after I take care of business." she shook Jason for good measure in case there may be any misunderstandings, "ain't your business nor your concern. Do NOT fuck with me."

I'd be fucking with her somethin' fierce, all right.

"Don't worry honey, I'm sure we can get you somethin', too. It might be hard to find someone, but I know some who aren't so picky and a little hard up." I realized I'd let out a growl she could hear as she addressed me.

Ok, I know she was baiting me, but in order for me not to rip myself away from Jasper and tear this chica apart, I ground my teeth together and dug my fingernails into my palms.

Without skipping a beat I retorted, "Actually sweetheart, we're looking for Maria."

Jasper shuffled and we heard Ivan growl and Cherish snicker. At least I had one person behind me in this. I wasn't playing around anymore.

Bring out the whoop-ass, because I was done.

Distracting Ramanda from her task was my main goal. Her hold on Jason was precarious and with an easy snap of hand, his head would be off. Every step we took was one closer to resolving this mess. It's the only reason none of had moved yet.

Besides the off-chance she might answer would save me time torturing her later.

That and Lacy was still being held hostage again between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dumb.

"Maria." Ramanda said warily, "What would make you think I know where Maria is?" I saw the other two bodyguard wanna-be's step a little closer to her away from the crowd.

The one by the door was halfway to us now, maybe twenty feet or so. The crowd on the other hand took a step back. That was encouraging. Maybe they wouldn't want to fight. That would make our job easier.

"You look like the type she likes. Low class… cheap," I shrugged trying to look uninterested as I eyed her up and down with a quick glance, "yep, 'bout her type I'd say. Know where I can find her? My mate, Jasper Whitlock and I would like a few words with her."

Ramanda's nostrils flared and her hands twitched making Jason, who was still in her clutches, flinch and whimper. Her gaze ran over Jasper again.

"Whitlock?" she asked.

"You heard me."

"Whitlock, as in **Major **Whitlock?" Was she fucking deaf?

"Yes." I proudly smirked at her.

"He's a myth." Ramanda's voice was unsure.

I looked over to Jasper, "You hear that darlin'? You're a myth."

Jasper glared at me but his lips twitched and turned his focus to Ramanda.

"Last time I looked, I'm real a boy." Jasper snarked and his sneer made her flinch. The reference wasn't lost on me.

The hushed whispers from the crowd grew as the situation became more intense.

"It doesn't matter who you are. I have business to attend to, then, we'll talk." But the look on her face was still unsure.

Either she was too stupid for words or one of her bodyguards had a gift she felt confident enough about to continue with her party. I would guess it was the pyrotechnic who was stepping around to her right side now. "I run this place and no one defies me or talks to me with disrespect, you best remember that."

"You tell me where Maria is and I'll gladly leave it alone. Oh," I added, "and the girl, Lacey was it? I'll be taking her with us, as well as Jason."

She tipped her head back and laughed outright at my demand. I tracked the bodyguard still creeping towards us. He was now less than ten feet to the right us. The others bodyguards were spreading out, too. We needed to act here and now. Jasper and I stepped forward again in sync.

"You have some balls, lady. Lesson in manners it is, Flame!" Ramanda barked.

You're kidding me right? How original.

The man I'd thought to be the pyro stepped forward raising his now white glowing hands.

In what seemed like slow motion, I saw flames erupt from his fingertips as the evil sneer on the man's face grew.

"Knock him to his knees," I hissed to Jasper.

Pyro somehow made it graceful, falling to his knees, as the flames grew in his hands. I was already on the move before the words finished leaving my lips. The flames grew as he watched me come without a care in the world.

Bringing the Katana out of it's sheath with my left hand, I let my power wrap around the sand beneath him bringing it up to wrap around his hands snuffing out the fire. The brief disbelief was the only look I saw on his face before I was in the air.

His gift wasn't one that had to build.

It was instantaneous.

The fireball left his hands before I snuffed it out.

"INCOMING," I screamed as I jumped up, bringing my feet tight to my ass, over the foot and half round ball of red blaze.

Not pausing to see where it was going, praying all the while, Jasper and our team weren't in it's path, I landed two feet from Flame and took off his head with a quick flick of my sword.

Following the momentum of my swing, I swung just in time to see the flame I dodged, spin into the guard that had been coming up behind us. He was the same bodyguard who'd been creeping his way to us from the door.

He burst into flame with a scream.

Ramanda who had dodged my incoming attack on Flame-boy by dragging Jason to her left, screamed as she stared at her prize possession, Flame, not paying attention to her upcoming demise.

Jasper had dodged the ball of flame detouring himself just right, marking Ramanda directly his victim. But he was too late as Ramanda ripped Jason's head from his body before Jasper got a hold of her.

The desire to kill her myself was distracted by another bodyguard approaching like lightening to my left. His feet in the air aimed at my head. Rotating my body to face him I bent over backwards and he went sailing over me. I brought the Katana up through his crotch and spine. His momentum allowed the katana to slice him in half. As I righted my stance, venom sprayed me.

I noted that Cherish was taking on one the crowd who'd decided to join the party and try to help Ramanda who was being taken down by Jasper.

Two other guards who had been behind Ramanda split, one came for me and the other went for Cherish.

Ivan slammed into the one who went for Cherish and I sidestepped the guard coming at me.

Drawing up my katana, I sidestepped him and swung it in a backhand motion as he went flying by me. The katana caught the man's midsection, slicing through, and severing his spine. Retracting quickly as the body began to tumble forward I took off his head, cutting off his scream before he hit the ground.

I felt arms come around me from behind me in a crushing hold and I let out a shriek of my own. I didn't have to see him to know who it was.

The little sneak, Sabian had come up on my blind side and wrapped his arms around me like a boa constrictor. The air left my lungs in a whoosh. He squeezed, bouncing me on his chest, making the last resort for a scream to leave my lungs. My hands lost the grip on my sword as my feet left the ground.

Fuck! Boy was strong. He was also shorter than I was so trying to ram my head into his didn't work. I felt one of my ribs go and then another crack under the pressure he applied. My arms were trapped under his embrace numbing them and incapacitating them.

Bringing my legs forward my knees touched his forearms around my chest before I used all my strength to try to powerhouse them into his knees. Seeming to know what I was going to do I felt myself bounce in his arms again as he shook me, my feet falling short of their target.

I couldn't get enough air in my lungs to make any noise.

I could see Jasper trying to get the girl, Lacy, away from the last guard without getting the girl's head ripped off.

Jason lay on the ground sans an arm and his head.

Ivan and Cherish were fighting a guard and two stupid souls from the crowd.

The part of the crowd that wasn't in the fight seemed stunned into silence. Or maybe steroid vamp boy cut off the flow of vital venom to my ears and I couldn't hear them.

Melvin and Rod were fighting their own individual battles with the crowd.

The evaluation of action around me took a millisecond.

I closed my eyes concentrating as I felt three more ribs go. The pressure he was holding me with wasn't allowing them to heal it just seemed to give him more room to press harder.

Fuck it hurt. I felt my skin break and the air hitting the bare rib bone and my exposed muscle was almost enough to make me pass out.

Squeezing my eyes tight I reached for my gift.

Monstress snarled and lashed lending me strength and I finally honed my power out to find my sword on the ground at my feet. Orchestrating the handle at the same time I pulled my legs into the air I whipped it through the air and the blade found purchase in Sabian's leg slicing it off.

He screamed obscenities at me and crushed me to him as we fell to the ground sideways. Fuck I didn't get both legs. I felt another rib hit the outside air.

No more than fifteen or twenty seconds had passed.

Fuck I didn't think a vampire could be crushed to death but it felt like he could make that happen.

I tried to concentrate enough to pick my sword up or a hook into the source of a knife, but the pain was too much.

Pain overwhelmed me.

I wrenched and tried to arch forward out of his grip only having the action result in me helping Sabian to break my right arm, which was underneath me as we lay sideways on the sand.

Then I heard the sweetest thing I could ever hear.

A roar I would recognize anywhere came from my mate in pure rage and I felt it sweep over me and through me as I flicked my eyes open.

Jasper sprinted from a good twenty feet from me but he didn't need to be closer as I felt his power wash over us and into Sabian's body making him relax around me. I tried to move away from him and he struggled to hold me near him. Jasper's gift had to go through me to get to Sabian, so it rendered me just as limp as my captor.

My exposed ribs and broken right arm made the task harder than it should be.

Monstress bellowed giving me the strength I needed to wrench myself away just as Jasper lunged over me. I couldn't see what he did but the dead feel of Sabian's arms still half around me, gave me an idea.

I panted and tried to stand. White light shot in front of my eyes as the pain ricocheted through my body.

Damn it.

I felt my ribs trying to knit together and I screamed in pain as sand and air dug into the wounds. The ribs had come through my leather vest.

Damn it.

Jasper's hands were on me as he rolled me over. I gritted my teeth and tried not to scream out.

"Sonofabitch!" Jasper's eyes were black as night as he ran his hands over me frantically.

I picked up my head, looking down, seeing that three of my ribs were poking through my leathers. And that didn't count the ones that were broken and didn't puncture skin.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"You… have to put… them back in." I gritted through my teeth between pants.

"It's going to hurt." Jasper looked panicked but steady, was that possible?

"The others? Check." I tried to demand.

Before Jasper could respond to my command I heard four other voices vibrate in my ear.

"_Check_." Rod, Cherish, and Ivan.

"_Making a fire, check_," came the fifth voice of Mona. She must have caught a stray or two. I hoped so.

"Good to know." I breathed and put my head back on the sand. I could hear our group murmuring to each other in my ear, but I tuned them out. They all seemed to have fared better than I did.

I finally answered Jasper.

"I know… hurt… won't heal… quick enough… if you don't. What's a little more pain… now if it… save hours… of pain later?" I panted. "Can't… think straight… like this." I panted.

He was breathing through his nose as his jaw muscles rippled with tension and I could see the war of emotions on his face and in his eyes as he searched me for more injuries.

"Do it." I snapped, "Rip…vest open… do it. I know you… done it… before."

I laid my head back again and heard as well as felt the leather separate from my chest. The exposed skin felt like it was on fire.

"You're loosing a lot of venom." He breathed.

"DO. IT." I hissed and closed my eyes.

His hands ghosted over me and then I felt the swift pressure and heard a popping slurping noise right before I screamed. I arched off the ground and tried not to wish for death.

Suck it up.

Suck it up.

Suck it up, bitch. You're tougher than this.

My fingers dug into my palms.

Monstress's howls joined mine.

No weakness.

I clamped my teeth together shutting off my whimpers.

Don't let him see you like this.

Don't worry him more.

Pressing my lips to my teeth I tried to keep the screams down.

I felt a cool sensation on my torso and my eyes popped open to see my mate was licking me, trying to get the exposed muscle to seal and close.

I shook with the effort to keep my shit together.

The soothing motions of my mate helped.

I felt my skin knit together cutting off the air.

It worked.

Oh fuck yes!

I relaxed as the open wounds healed over and the air and sand was cut off from my nerves.

I took a shuddering breath, which hurt like hell. I tried to relax further and with the help of Jasper I did.

I wasn't anywhere close to being out of pain or healed, but just having my raw nerves sealed away and protected from the elements helped.

I reached out to him, grabbing his hand.

"Help me up."

"Stay down."

"No, we have to help the others." I gave him a hard stare. There was still shit to be done and I wasn't lying on the ground like a pussy while the rest of them did the job by themselves.

Jasper shook his head realizing I wasn't relenting.

"I'll help them, you stay still." He said in a last-ditch effort.

"Jasper, help me up... please." I looked up at him with big eyes and a slight pout. I wondered what a pout on my pained face would really look like and if it would help or hinder me.

He let out a sharp chuckle, "Stubborn woman." He grumbled under his breath but he helped me up.

"Jason, Lacy?" I asked as I looked for them. Wouldn't that just suck if we did all this shit for them and somehow they got fried? But I didn't see any more smoke than the smoldering of the bodyguard who had gotten hit with the ball of flame. All I could detect otherwise was the lingering fear, blood, venom, human piss and an array of other nasties, but no fire… yet.

"Over there." Jasper pointed.

Looking around at the destruction I couldn't help but snort. We'd been here less than fifteen minutes.

Jasper gave me a quizzical look and I quipped, "Do we know how to crash a party or what?"

His answering derisive snort was enough of an answer.

"Why the hell did you start mouthing off at her about Maria?"

"I didn't like her, and I was trying to buy time."

Jasper just shook his head.

My left hand snaked out and pushed him back a little so I could look at him. My brain was coming back to focus and priorities were making themselves known as it came online.

His pants were ripped at the knee and thigh on one leg but I didn't smell any venom; neither Jasper's nor anyone else's.

He was dirty from the red dust and sand.

Trailing my eyes over his body I could see no other marks but a healing bite wound on his bicep. I touched it making Jasper hiss.

I leaned forward sealing my lips around it. Sucking, I heard him hiss again, but I didn't stop. Pulling back I spit the foreign venom from my mouth and then ran my tongue over his wound sealing it with my own venom.

Kissing my way up his arm he bent down so our lips met intensely but oh too briefly.

"Let's help the others," he whispered against my lips and I nodded.

I shuffled so I could see around him. Jason's body lay sprawled out and his head was beside him with a look of such terror it was all I could do to keep assessing the rest of him. His arm lay beside him a couple feet away from his head. That was going to be a bitch of time for him to heal.

Ivan and Cherish hovered over Jason protecting him as Ivan helped re-attach three of Cherish's fingers.

"We need to put his head on." I took a step and Jasper caught my arm and stood in front of me. I was about to get pissed when he started to take his shirt off.

"Really? Right now? Jas-"

"Shut up you stubborn woman. Even though I love seeing your tits, no one else gets to see them." he growled.

Oh.

I looked down and realized my vest was history. Jasper helped me put his T-shirt on and adjust it so it didn't look like a nightshirt. I glanced up and smiled as I saw his bare chest. I watched his muscles move as he took my knives out of the ruined vest, putting them in my boots, and finally had to put some on himself.

He chuckled a little dirtily, "Really? Right now?" he mocked me as he felt my lust.

I huffed at him as we proceeded over to Jason.

Melvin was making quick work of the cleaning up of our destruction, piling the dismembered in the sand.

Rod was with Lacy trying to calm her down and keep her from running to Jason, while convincing her to let him help her. He was holding her hand, but the hand wasn't attached to her body.

The crowd was full of whispers and tittering as I glanced at them. There were looks of awe fear and bewilderment on their faces. The humans had been corralled to the back, I noticed, as I saw them trying to peer around the crowd of supernatural. I couldn't believe any of them didn't die.

My attention turned back to Jason.

"Shit." I whispered.

Jasper grimaced, "I'm making him as lethargic as I can, but he's in a lot of pain."

"Help me." I leaned over Jason's body and moved him by his shoulders, positioning him as Jasper grabbed his head.

"Grab his arm too?" I asked.

Ivan was there in a flash crouching down with Jason's arm.

"How you wanna do this?" Ivan asked.

"Cherish's fingers go back on okay?" I asked.

"Good as new." She said coming to help.

"We need water to clean out the sand." I said distractedly as I took the arm.

"Be right back," Cherish blurred off.

"Put his arm on first, then his head," I said. And we switched what we were doing. I didn't know for sure which would be better. My chest hurt and I tried not to let it distract me, but I knew my head wasn't ticking on all cylinders yet.

"Here," Cherish bent down holding a couple bottles of water.

We cleaned as much sand off as we could and tried to position the arm in the right alignment to help the healing quicken.

"Move, let me," Mona's voice carried over us. I hadn't realized she was here yet.

There were enough of us around Jason so I didn't understand her tone.

She pushed passed Ivan, not an easy thing to do, and bent down over Jason's arm. I was about to ask 'what the hell' when she leaned over and ran her tongue over the fabric of Jason's skin helping his arm seam itself. I sat back and watched as she made quick work and poured as much venom as she could on the re-attaching limb.

I could hear her inner growl as she did it.

I caught Cherish's eyes and she rolled hers. The look told me "are you fucking kidding me here?'

I let out a shocked tutter before refocusing on Mona and Jason. We could ponder the event later.

As Jason began to heal we prepared his head and Mona did the same to his neck. She slapped my hands off Jason and gave me a warning growl. Cherish offered, but Mona pushed her hands away and growled at her as well. Ivan tried and Mona reluctantly let him help her.

I slowly pulled myself back as Mona became more frantic in her endeavors.

Jasper slipped his hand around my arm and helped me up and he turned me to face the crowd that was growing restless. I nodded; we had to wrap things up.

The fight had only lasted maybe five to seven minutes max. Looking around taking in the scene before me it didn't appear many of the patrons of the place stepped in to help.

Nothing like small favors.

The five guards were in a pile waiting to be burned, which included Sabian and Flame, and I wasn't sure how many more patrons from the bar.

Ramanda was beheaded and off to the side lying alone in the sand.

All the patrons had been herded towards the establishment and stood gawking at us. I didn't see anyone looking for further problems. I was surprised they were still here. I guess train wrecks are hard to walk away from.

Melvin and Rod stood between them and us in protective stances making sure our clean up went uninterrupted.

Cherish had taken over Lacy's recovery. Jasper hovered over me as we walked forward stopping next to Ramanda.

I slowly bent over to Ramanda's head and picked it up turning to the crowd.

"My name is Izzy. This is my mate Jasper Whitlock, you may know him better as Major, or the God of War." The crowd made appropriate rumblings but I was not in the mood. I was in a bad western and I hurt, "HEY!" they shut up, "We're after Maria, if you see her, or hear from her let 'er know." I threw Ramanda's head into the stack of limbs and body macabre.

Jasper's voice shut up the protests my actions roused, "You tell Maria if she has a problem with this to come find me. She has been stripped of her title. She is no longer the Mistress of the South. Her sire is dead. Soon she will be joining Mary-Alice Bysshop in hell."

He crouched down picking up Ramanda's body and threw it in the pile of vampire debris of arms, legs, and heads. Taking out my Zippo I bent down and lit a highly flammable venomy arm socket on fire. I stepped back quickly feeling Jasper's body hold me upright as I gasped from movement.

We watched the pile take off in a burst of flames. Jasper and I took a few more steps back as the smoke billowed forth filling our nostrils with the incense aroma.

I leaned into Jasper for a moment reveling in the brief moment of strength his body provided. He squeezed my hip and touched his lips to his mate mark on my neck letting me know just how scared he'd been. I could feel the possessive waves roll off him as Rod turned to us. Jasper's arm circled me more and I knew he was holding on by a thread of control.

"Orders, Major?" Rod asked.

Jasper looked behind us and then back at the crowd.

"Let me talk to these people while one of you gets a stretcher to take Jason out of here. The girl looks alright to travel on her own feet."

"We're taking them with us." Rod confirmed.

"I don't think we have a choice. Mona isn't going to let Jason out of her sight, and we aint leaving Lacy here by herself." Jasper confirmed.

Rod's face got a funny look and glanced over to Ivan, Mona, and Jason. Mona was hovered over Jason's recently re-attached head as she cooed to him.

"Ah, hell." Rod breathed as he watched.

"Looks that way." Jasper grunted.

"A'right." Rod nodded, "I'll get a stretcher. Can't take him like that." He blurred away.

Then Jasper addressed the crowd, "Is there anyone else here in charge?"

Silence, as they inched back from us. Some eyed the desert and cliffs around us looking for an escape or maybe for someone to materialize who would take the job offer.

"As long as you don't attack us, we aren't going to attack any of you. Now come on, I know there has to be someone left who still works here."

I caught looks of three women as they exchanged wordless glances at one another.

Jasper caught it too.

"You three," he pointed to the women and motioned for them to step forward, "I'm not going to hurt you. None of us are. I just want to talk to you."

One of them stepped forward cautiously and the other two hissed at her.

"We ain't gonna hurt you." Jasper cooed and felt his gift brush past me as he sent her his reassurance. She stood up a little straighter and finally looked up at us, "that's better. You work here?" he asked her.

"Y- yes." She nodded.

"Good. What's your name?"

"Desree." And this time her voice held some strength.

"Desree, do you think you can take over the clean up around here?"

"Uh." She hunched her shoulders.

"You look strong enough to take on the task.-" Jasper was cut off by Jason's loud wail as his vocal cords began to work.

His wail set off a chain of events that sent us all reeling and scrambling to get the fuck out of here.

Time to go.

Mona answered his cry of agony and she plunged forward blurring through Ivan's restraining hands then burst into the crowd. She grabbed the first human she could get her hands latched onto.

Oy vey.

Seeing and hearing another vampire feeding, sent the capricious vampires and ghouls in the crowd into a feeding frenzy.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Was all I seemed to be able to think.

"Where's that stretcher!" Jasper yelled and Rod came blurring from around the side of the building eyes wide taking in the scene. He registered what was going on and blurred to Jason quickly.

Cherish grabbed Lacy and we gathered making a circle around Rod and Ivan as they put a screaming Jason on the makeshift stretcher.

Mona was there in a flash as they picked him up and she held the broken bleeding neck of her human victim up over Jason's mouth trying to get him to feed.

Turning back to the macabre scene in front of me, I took what little energy I had left and created a screen of dust in front of us.

Fuck shit that hurt.

"We need to get the fuck outta here." I bit.

"Trying." I heard from around me.

"Put down the human Mona." Ivan told her.

"She won't let's just go. If she brings it she brings it." Cherish sounded exasperated.

"You guys go, Isabella and I will be right behind you." Jasper barked and I heard our team start to shuffle and then move out like they were told. Jasper came up beside me and caught me, as I was about to go to my knees.

"How long can you hold that?" He whispered eyed the dust cloud.

"Not long. I'm about out of energy. Can you do anything to quiet them?"

"Not enough at once and it wouldn't do any good, do you need-"

"No. Let's go."

We turned and ran as I let go of the weak pathetic barrier behind me.

I wasn't doing very well and Jasper grabbed my left arm and turned me to him stopping our race.

"Come. Hold onto my front and climb on." He opened his arms.

"What?"

"If you ride my back it'll hurt, don't argue woman, get on." he commanded.

Oh crap. I did as he asked and latched onto his front wrapping myself around him and holding my front away from him as best I could.

It didn't take long to catch up to our counterparts as they struggled to control Mona and carry Jason. Jasper's mojo shut Jason's cries up which focused the rest of us into running like hell. I kept my eyes behind us from Jasper's shoulder to make sure we weren't followed. I didn't have the strength to put any more energy into checking with my gift. Jasper's gift floating into me and out to Jason was too much to fight against anyway.

Running with broken ribs? Put me down for 'don't like that shit'.

We ran some more.

I didn't know where we were as I concentrated on not concentrating on the pain. It didn't work very well. Jasper ran as smoothly as he could bringing up the rear of our group.

We ran until we smelled the tell tale signs of human life. We were coming up on another town. Shit.

"Sharp left," I barked when I found what I was looking for.

We changed directions and I told them to stop once we where we needed to be. The bottom of small bluff gave us a fraction of coverage and protection and a place to calm down and think about what to do next.

Mona had given up her hold on the drained dead human miles back, leaving him in the desert for the buzzards and other predators.

Jason was looking weak and extra pale. He would be in need of more blood. Human blood, preferably. With the extension of his injuries, animal blood wouldn't come near to helping him heal fast enough.

Jasper let me go and I stumbled a little as I climbed off him.

Feeling Jasper's gift direct my way I shook my head at him and raised my chin to the couple on the ground.

"That'll help better for Jason and Mona than for me." He grudgingly pulled his mojo away and I held in the gasp as the pain reappeared.

Glancing at Cherish I nodded to the backpack in her arms. She shook her head knowing I was asking if there was another bag of blood in there.

Double shit.

My ribs were healing, and the pain was becoming background noise now. It would take a couple days to fully heal, but the pain was manageable. My broken arm had knit the bone back together. It was a dull throb.

I looked at Cherish's fingers and they looked like they were coming along nicely, I noticed she had a broken arm too. I shook my head, we were in fine shape.

Lacy was holding her hand and by the look of her gaunt face I wasn't sure how she was holding her shit together. She had to be strong. Her eyes were pitch black with hunger.

"Lacy," I whispered and her head swiveled to me. She wouldn't look at me in the eye. "When's the last time you fed sweetheart?"

Her body quivered and she looked out into the desert. That answered more than enough. The girl had been abused and not fed regularly. She was in some kind of shock I realized as I watched her. She'd need to feed, too.

Jasper had been assessing also and we both turned to one another.

"Us, or someone else." He asked, and I could see by his eyes, we shouldn't be the first choice.

"Cherish and Rod." They both looked up at me when I called their names. Out of all of them they'd be the best to go. Even with a recent broken arm and detached fingers, Cherish was quick and careful. Ivan would have to help Mona since Mona wasn't letting any female near Jason. "Are you guys up for it? If not just say so, Jasper and I can go."

They both looked at each other and back to Jasper and I.

"Yes." They both nodded and Rod confirmed, "We can go."

"We'll keep guard here over them. Make it quick," I told them.

"How many," Cherish said and eyed my mid section, she didn't say it out loud but she knew I was hurting.

"Make it two." I said and my eyes darted to Lacy and back.

"What about you boss?" Rod asked quietly and Jasper growled. I held up my hand. I knew it wasn't that he didn't want me to feed; it was he didn't want anyone providing food for me.

"I just fed this morning, I'm good. Taking more isn't going to make it heal any faster." An easy lie.

Cherish eyed me doubtfully but didn't argue after the look I gave her.

"A'right." Rod and Cherish took off toward the town we could smell but not see and I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Ivan, will you run perimeter?" Jasper asked and with a quick nod Ivan was off.

"_Izzy B_?" Sarah's voice buzzed in my ear. _"Hate to bother you, I know you guys are under duress." _

"It's alright. Turn off Mona's Com before hand please." I told Sarah_._

"_Copy," _she paused I assumed to do as I requested. Our command center could always hear us, but they could cut it off and we couldn't hear them. They could also cut each of us off and talk to us individually. Being able to cut Mona off so she wasn't distracted was fantastic in this moment.

Jasper and I stood back to back in front of our group checking our surroundings constantly for movement or danger.

"_Peter is on his way to you. He was the closest when we heard shit start to go down. They know you've got extras coming back with you. They should meet up with you in about fifteen to twenty minutes. They'll help with clean-up back at Mucky's. Over_"

We'd left in such a hurry we'd left a mess. If we hadn't left when we did, I was positive that crowd would have turned on us shortly.

"Ok," I told her.

"_Eleazar wanted you to know… we had to tie Rosalie up. She attacked Eleazar so he asked for our help. She and Emmett are in isolation and Rosalie's asking for you, Izzy B_." she sounded distraught by the end.

I internally rolled my eyes thinking, 'just what I needed'.

"I take it they told her." I didn't need to elaborate.

"_Yes. It wasn't pretty._ _Over_."

"Why did she attack Eleazar?"

"_From what I understand she did it for him killing Carlisle and Esme. She says she has information for you_."

"Why would she give up information if she's pissed that Eleazar killed them?"

"_Oh, I guess I misled you, she's pissed they were killed without her being there. She's angry cause the right was taken away from her to do it herself."_

"Oh, I see." I looked back at Jasper who was shaking his head and snickering.

"Well, as you know, I'm not in the position to talk to her." I said and sighed that Rosalie's world would always revolve around Rosalie.

"_I know, we told her that._ _But you needed to be updated as soon as possible. Shit's crazy around here. Eleazar wasn't prepared as he should've been, and you know Carmen wasn't going to stand for her mate being attacked. It was a real mess._"

"Did anyone get hurt?" Jasper asked.

"_Eleazar's arm got broken and almost torn off, but Carmen got a hold of Rosalie before she could dismember him. Rosalie lost her arm, elbow down, and Carmen's finger is broken. Nothing too dramatic." _Sarah's voice was full of laughter.

Everyone was losing limbs. When shit hit the fan it really hit the fan.

"Why do I have to have this information right now?" I asked aloud, "Has she said anything about what she wants to have a heart to heart about?"

"_No. She says she'll only talk to you and that it's very urgent_."

"She is a pain in my ass. She'll just have to wait. How's Emmett?"

"Worried, pissed, and trying to calm his mate."

"That's something. Tell them I'll talk to them as soon as I can. I'm knee deep in shit and can't come to the phone."

Sarah chuckled, "_Will do. Also…_" her voice back to being hesitant.

"Spit it out, girl I don't have a lot of time here."

"_The Giant Island? Well there's been some activity. Stephan showed up, I know you're not really in a place to deal with this, but Mac said you guys needed to be told._"

My mouth must have been on the ground. "He's right, we do need to know that. What the hell is Stephan doing there?"

"_He showed up an hour ago__, heavily guarded,__ and went straight to the main mansion. He hasn't made another appearance since. He came in by helicopter_."

"Holy shit." Jasper and I said in unison.

"_Back up from Yakini and also Benjamin showed up with our guys on ground in Libya. They have a chopper that can follow them if they try to leave. But we can't get close to the island now. We're watching from our satellites. They doubled their guards around the place and are on high alert. Mac says to ask Jasper and you what you want done_."

Taking one more sweep of the desert before I turned to Jasper and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. If Stephan and Vladimir were involved in this shit and those beings were theirs on that island then this could be our break. Stephan wouldn't show up unless it was important and something was going down.

"You tell Mac to have them followed. Don't lose them. If you have to get more choppers then so be it. Hire the human militants we had before, I don't care. Do we still have eyes and ears on the island?"

"_No. An hour before Stephan appeared all frequencies were scrambled. Mac is pissed, but whatcha gonna do? They obviously have some high tech shit to be able to take an' make us deaf and blind like that_." Sarah didn't sound any more pleased about it than I'm sure Mac was, even though she tried to make light.

"No kidding, I bet Mac is pissed and I'm also sure Mac knows this could be something big. Tell Mac to do what he does best and don't lose those assholes. We need to know where they're going if they leave and know what or who and how many he's taking with him, if anything."

"_Copy. Over_."

"Have you heard anything from Jeb about the ghouls?" I took a shot in the dark.

"_No. Just the last update that more had woken, haven't heard anything since_."

I chewed on my lip and rubbed my ribs absently as I thought.

Finally I told Sarah, "You get word to Jeb to watch and listen for any choppers coming in. Ask him if there has already been any in his vicinity. Tell him to put some extra guards on duty if he has to."

"_Ok. Mac wants to know why_." Sarah told me.

"I have this funny feeling, maybe run this by Peter, but somehow I think the ghouls and that Giant Island are somehow connected. That maybe if Stephan is showing up there, someone is going to be showing up soon for the ghouls. They're all waking up about the same time. Someone's going to be either checking on them or coming for pick up."

"_Mac says 'on it'. Over_." I loved, even though I could hear every word Mac said, Sarah insisted on repeating herself.

"Let Peter know to come in easy, we have an extremely new mated pair, one of which is severely wounded. We'll sit tight until they get here." Jasper told her.

"_Copy, Major._"

"We'll be back to the jets in a couple hours, don't hesitate to update us in the meantime, Sarah." I said for good measure.

"_Copy, I'll let them know, over_."

Mated pairs. Broken bones. Wounded. Decapitations. Dismemberment. Beast mating. Whores. Chaos. Dead Mistress's. Slaves. Dead pyro's. Maria still at large. Giant invasions. Ghoul awakenings.

And we still had a couple hours to midnight.

'All in a fecking day' as Nevell would say.

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**A/N**

**HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!**

**Again an Enormous THANK YOU to all you reviewers and readers.**

**Review and tell me what you most want to know and what you would like to see happen/ or think is going to happen. **

**Next Chapter up soon.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N**

**This is really short for what I usually put out. REALLY SHORT**

**Just warning you; There will be mistakes in this chapter, (grammer, sentence stucture, spelling, etc. ) but I wanted to give you something while the rest gets worked on and corrected. Hopefully in the next few days I'll post again. **

**Thank you guys for reading... love ya all!**

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_Previously;_

"_Copy, Major."_

"_We'll be back to the jets in a couple hours, don't hesitate to update us in the meantime, Sarah." I said for good measure._

"_Copy, I'll let them know, over." _

_Mated pairs. Broken bones. Wounded. Decapitations. Dismemberment. Beast mating. Whores. Chaos. Dead Mistress's. Slaves. Dead pyro's. Maria still at large. Giant invasions. Ghoul awakenings._

_And we still had a couple hours to midnight._

'_All in a fecking day' as Nevell would say._

**~ Something to Hide ~**

**~Izzy POV~**

"Ivan, you see anything?" Jasper asked.

"_No one out here I can see, boss_." Ivan said.

"Thanks Ivan. You heard what Sarah said?"

"_Yah. On my way back, Over_."

"Copy."

I relaxed into Jasper a little further keeping my eyes peeled in infrared watching the quiet desert around us. Jasper purred trying to sooth me. It worked. His protective presence alone was enough to make me feel safe, his purr put me at home.

Ivan came from the south calling out softly it was only he when Mona growled and hissed at his footsteps. We'd left her COM off, it just seemed it would be less stressful for her.

Ivan went straight to Lacy who'd become a statue, taking everything in with wide eyes. She'd left Mona and Jason alone, but she didn't take her eyes off them for more than a second at a time. I'd tried to see about her but Jasper growled at me. He wouldn't let me out of contact with him and we needed to stay away from Mona and Jason and keep our eyes peeled for incoming.

Lacy found a spot to sit on a rock and tugged at her skirt trying to make it somehow bigger. Ivan took pity on her taking his t-shirt off and handing it to her. I thought the girl would blush scarlet if she could. She quickly slipped it on and saw the huge sigh of relief on her face as her body was dwarfed in Ivan's chivalry.

I heard them before I saw them.

Peter and Charlotte came flying through the night at warp speed. The group trailing behind them took Peter's commands and separated circling the perimeter a mile out around us.

"Got yourselves a bit a trouble I see." Peter snarked, as he and Charlotte came to a halt in front of us.

I blinked turning to regular vision. Knowing we were protected and had back up, I let my body sag dramatically against Jasper's back but he turned taking me in his arms protectively and smoothed his hands over my body reassuring me.

"Ah, I see princess Izzy didn't come out unscathed." Peter's eyes softened as he got a good look at me and stepped forward.

Jasper wrapped himself further around me and gave a warning growl to Peter and Char. Peter's hands went up and Char lowered her eyes. Major was on the surface waiting for Jasper to let him out. The possessive waves rolled over me and filled with me with belonging.

It seemed being safer now with a perimeter in place allowed for Jasper to refocus knowing he could take care of me without watching our backs. His attention focused on me entirely.

"I'm alright, better than what we left behind us." I told Peter.

"We need to send some of us back to give a damage report a' what happened after we left." Jasper told them gruffly.

"You got it, Major," Peter said nodding and turned as he talked into the wind giving orders to do just that through his earpiece. It sounded like he sent five of the ten to do a perimeter sweep and recon around Ramanda's. Or what used to be Ramanda's.

I saw Char's eyes stray over to Mona and Jason on the ground and her eyes got round in wonder, "Oh, man. I didn't believe it when we were told there was matin' going on." Mona hissed at Char's voice and she quickly looked elsewhere her eyes landing on Ivan and Lacy and raised her brows, "Them too," dropping her voice to a whispered. Ivan had sat down with Lacy and was talking quietly to her.

"No, just Mona and Jason mated. Ivan's with the girl, Jason's bio-sister, Lacy." I whispered back.

Char looked at me and her eyes couldn't get much bigger. "You guys have been busy recruitin'?"

"Humph, Well some of us have." I nodded to Mona and laughed humorlessly. "Shit went bad and a little crazy fast."

"What tha' hell happened?" Peter asked rejoining us.

"We came up on the bar as a fight between Jason and Lacy's man-of-the-evening broke out, it sounded like." Jasper told them quietly, "Went ta' shit from there. Ramanda decided to get rid a' Jason for interferin' with his sister. We stepped in and made it a hundred times worse. Mac tell you guys about Rucker?"

"Yeah, aint that the shit!" Peter guffawed and Char shushed him.

"Did he tell ya' Maria's got herself a flamethrower?" Jasper sneered Maria's name. Good boy.

"He mentioned a' possibility." Peter nodded.

"She doesn't have one anymore." I smirked.

"Oh, damn, he was there? He's dead? Or did ya' steal 'em?" Peter's face lit like a kid in a candy store.

"We toasted 'em in the fire with the rest of 'em including Ramanda, her guards and half a dozen bystanders who stepped in to help 'er. Includin' the sod who was payin' for Lacy and ultimately ripped Jason's arm off in the beginnin'." Jasper bit out but there was a twinkle of delight that betrayed his excitement of the fight and taking care of business.

"I don't understand why Flame wasn't with Maria if she was coming after us. I wonder if he really was part of Maria's entourage or if she hired him or something. Why would he be here instead of with her?" I asked no one in particular.

"A Merc?" Char asked.

"Yeah, maybe, maybe not. He didn't seem to react when we mentioned Maria." Jasper said.

"Where's the rest a the group?" Char said looking around realizing we were missing a couple of people.

"Hunting in town, Jason's needs human blood and so does Lacy. From the looks of her she's starving. I don't know how she's kept control of the thirst. That is one strong ass girl." I said with some awe for the girl now giving a tiny shy smile at whatever Ivan was whispering to her.

"Did she fight?" Peter asked looking Lacy over seeing the scars peaking out from her new shirt-dress. Her lower legs were still bare and you could see part of the long ago healed seam marks on her ankles through all the dirt.

"No, but she got her hand ripped off by one of the bodyguards. She lost a bit of venom. He eyes are pitch black, I don't think she's fed in a while. She didn't go crazy when hell broke loose before we left. The smell of human blood was kinda hard to miss. She kept a level head and didn't fight going with us." I gave a rundown.

"Why _did_ you guys leave? I thought ya'll were in control and the next thing I know Mac's tellin' us you're on the run." Peter tipped his head in question.

"We'd just put back on Jason's arm and his head, that Ramanda took off him before I could take her down. His head fused enough he found his vocal cords. His scream sent Mona into the crowd looking for food. There were at least seven humans in the place and she took the closest. The excitement, then the blood, deemed too much for the vampires left standin' around. They went into a feeding frenzy, which the ghouls followed suit. The dhampirs looked liked they jumped in to try to save 'em. Anyway we got our shit together and took off while they were distracted." Jasper recounted.

"Holy hell. I thought our shit was bad." Peter muttered.

"What happened with your team?" Jasper asked as I felt his fingers slip under his shirt I was wearing to my hip where he began to run circles in my skin. I didn't realize I was quivering slightly until Jasper's touch calmed me down. The loss of venom was wearing on me.

"The first bar we got to was… let's just say full of a bunch a' horny bastards. We only took in Char, me and another couple, Reba and Mark. Reba's ass got grabbed a couple times, then Char's got pinched. I warned the guy but he looked me right in the eye and did it again. Well, he tried. Fight broke out after I grabbed 'em and told 'em he'd lose an arm doin' that. We won. Then we talked to the owner and left."

"It's always something isn't it?" Char laughed shaking her head looking at Peter with stars in her eyes. I knew she loved it when he went caveman protective.

"I tell you what. These places we all went, includin' what I heard from the others, Mexico is in bad need of a' intervention. I can't wait to give a couple face-lifts. I know we're vampires, but Christ, we aren't Neanderthals. Shit is goin' to change when we take over." Peter rubbed his hands together and stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth.

Lord that was his thinkin' face, the 'I've got brilliant ideas just waitin' to come out an' get everyone in trouble' look we all knew and ran from.

"That might be easier said than done, Professor Gilligan. We'll have to take it slow, besides, Peter, we've got enough in the pot to boil as it is." I told him.

Peter pouted. No one was buying it.

"Are we ready for this meetin'. Should we postpone it?" Char said redeploying her mate on a different thought process. "You know someone will be stupid enough to attack or challenge. With everything else, how thin do we want to get here?"

"We can't postpone or cancel. We do that and all we do is look like a bunch a fools." Peter grimaced and Char looked like an attack dog.

"Be nice, Peter, it was a legitimate question." Jasper frowned at him.

"Sorry, just tense, come 'ere Char baby." Peter hugged her to his body and whispered to her and she eventually lost her fight against him and hugged him back. Those two were something else.

Cherish let us know she was coming back first as the incoming duo switched on their COMs, Rod right on her heels. They both clutched onto dead human males over their shoulders.

Ivan stepped forward taking Rod's load from him and took Lacy off to the side a hundred feet or so from everyone. Rod said he'd be on perimeter and took off.

Mona was growling at Cherish who had tried to approach them. Jasper started forward to help but Peter was faster. He took the limp form from Cherish and headed for Mona.

"Aint no one here to hurt ya, girl, ease down," Peter soothed. There was enough authority in his voice she responded to it and let him approach them.

Cherish shrugged and came to stand with us.

"You'd think she'd be grateful." She huffed.

"It's not that, sugar," Char told her seein' Cherish's disgruntled face, "She is grateful, but all she can focus on is feeding her mate. Another female can't come within ten feet of them now without her snappin'. You watched this shit before, ya' know how it is. I'm surprised she's doin' this well. He's hurt. It's her responsibility to feed him. It's the bond." Charlotte placated her and laughed at the look of melancholy on Cherish's face.

"I get it, I do. Mona and I've been best friends for over sixty years, it's just odd to see her like this." Cherish pursed her lips and pouted as she watched Peter approach the newly mated cautiously, without incident.

Peter laid the body next to the new couple and backed up. Mona was quick to take the offering slashing quickly into the dead humans throat and feeding Jason. We all turned our backs to them giving them as much privacy as we could.

I gritted my teeth against the bloodlust and Jasper cooed to me. We moved further out from them and I finally stopped breathing. Not breathing eased some of the pain in my ribs anyway.

Monstress flashed a memory to me of her eating. She wanted me to hunt so my body would heal faster. I shook her off. We could do that back at the jet. Running around the desert for food right now was not first on my list. With our perimeter of people we'd have to go out even further because I'm sure there was nothing left around us _to_ hunt. Nature didn't hang out too long when they knew there was a bigger predator around.

Monstress was disgruntled but she backed off.

"What happened to you Izzy?" Char asked as she turned to me and pointedly looked at my arm slung across my ribs and me leaning on Jasper. Jasper snarled low and I patted his arm slung around my upper chest. He was trying not to touch my ribs. He'd run his hand over them and my arms every once in awhile checking me. I could feel his concern through our contact and bond. We must look the pair, Jasper constantly checking me, me constantly reassuring him. He wouldn't settle down anytime soon until I was fed. That would just have to wait a bit.

I sighed, "I wasn't paying enough attention. I got blindsided by some dwarf-wannabe-Hercules."

Jasper snorted, "Guy would a' put Emmett's muscles to shame, made him look down right puny compared."

"I know right?" Cherish threw in her two bits, "That guy was fucking enormous. His neck had to be a foot or thicker wide, I swear. And it just went all the way down. He was hunk of muscle with no form." She snickered. "Short fucker, too."

"He crushed me before I could think twice. I'm a'right." I reassured them when they didn't seem to believe me.

Jasper's cell phone vibrated in his pocket distracting their attentions from me.

We looked at each other and then to Jasper as he pulled the phone from his back pocket.

"Whitlock." He answered as greeting.

"_Jasper. I got news there were problems at Ramanda's facility, are you guys ok?_" Wow it'd been only a couple hours since we'd left. Grapevine had some long legs down here.

"Rucker," Jasper drawled, "You got word already?" Jasper was just as surprised as I was.

"_Yes."_ Rucker said hesitantly, "Gossip in my place is rampant, especially when someone takes out Ramanda herself and her goons. It's big news."

This could blow up in our faces. Proceed with caution.

"Understand. I hope this doesn't hurt our relationship, but the situation could not be avoided." Jasper voice wary with what this could mean.

"_Oh, I can imagine that. I tried to warn you. It's not a place for contented social hour. My concern is with you and yours, there is no ill regard on my part that Ramanda is no longer with us. You did us all a favor, I should be thanking you." _I could hear the smile now in Rucker's voice. Jasper's shoulders relaxed a bit, he'd heard the humor in Rucker's voice same as me_._

"Thank you for looking out for us, Rucker. It wasn't our intention for things to get so out of control, but it snowballed and it is what it is. I can't say I regret it. Was there another reason you called? Should we be watchin' our backs?"

"_You should always watch your back down here, Major, but not from me. And_ y_es, as a matter of fact I called for another reason. I heard you killed the pyrotechnic? The question I wanted to ask is if you saw him die? Did you save his ashes_?"

Jasper's eyes pierced mine and I got that sick feeling in my gut. The way Rucker asked there was something wrong.

"He was decapitated and in the pile we lit on fire. We didn't take his ashes, or anyone's for that matter." Jasper told him and Peter huffed.

"_I see_." There was a pause as Rucker sighed.

"What is it ol' man. Talk to me."

"_It is unconfirmed. But it is believed he cannot die with fire. He __**IS**__ fire. He will not burn to ash_." Rucker told us solemnly.

Oh, boy. If that was true we just gained a huge enemy. Shit.

"We decapitated him." Jasper repeated defensively.

"_It does not matter. It is what I have been told. It could very well be a rumor to put fear into everyone. Much like the Major stories. But you are real my friend. Be on your guard_."

"Thank you."

"_Is there a place set where we shall meet_?" Rucker asked.

"Do you have others coming with you?" Jasper inquired.

"_Yes. Three. They are the most significant in the covens and grapevine around this area. They are very curiou to meet the infamous Major and his counterparts,_" Rucker chuckled.

"Most likely tomorrow night. Let me confirm the place and I'll get back to you within a couple hours." Rucker agreed and Jasper hung up.

"How many did you guys make contact with who agreed to come?" Jasper asked Peter.

"We just got two. I haven't talked to the others." Peter said

Macs voice cut into the conversation, "_There're nine contacts so far who will be bringing more. As soon as the texts go out from us telling them where to go, they are to tell us how many they are bringing. Over._"

"Copy." Man. Nine could bring ninety.

"Mac, We need to get moving soon. Are the others anywhere near Mucky Duck's?" Jasper asked him as he watched the southern horizon.

"_They're close. Another five minutes_." Mac informed him.

"We'll send them our back-up. We need to get out of here now and head for the jet." Jasper said and Peter told our teams out on perimeter we were moving out they were to head south as we went north. Rod was excited to go back with them.

"_Copy, I'll let them know. Over."_ Mac said.

"Can we please take care of your needs now?" Jasper whispered against my ear.

"No, I can wait for the jet. We've got supplies there." I didn't want to separate us any further than necessary from the rest of our group. We weren't that far from the hanger and nourishment.

Jasper eyed me appraisingly and finally nodded his head in irritation but he was resigned to my wishes, "Ok. But I'm carrying you back."

I tried to complain but Jasper was having nothing of it. He was adamant that he carried me. I agreed finally convincing myself being close to him would be worth it. Besides, it would save me some energy and right now I needed it. As punishment, to both of us in the end, I nipped, licked, and kissed his neck and face the whole way. He growled telling me it was uncomfortable running with a hard cock. It was as much a torture to him as it was to me feeling him against me and not being able to do anything. That saying 'fuck me running'? Not possible with broken ribs.

Ivan and Peter carried Jason on the stretcher with Mona alongside them. Cherish and Char kept Lacy between them as we ran.

We were ten minutes from the hanger when Sarah came buzzing into our ears. I could hear Mac in the background snapping orders.

"_Three more helicopters landed on the island. Nothing to sneeze at either, they're all military size._ _They're moving out. Flying too low for radar, but we're doing our best to track them via satellites as they head east._"

"How many did they take?" I asked.

"_At least 35 giants. Stephan was with them and two other regular vampires we don't have files on_, _along with Stephan's entourage._"

"No ghouls." I stated dryly.

_"No."_

"How long ago?" Jasper cut in.

"_Two minutes. They landed loaded and left_. _Saw them coming from the north, but didn't think they'd leave that quickly. We weren't even sure where they were headed. There's other military around there all the time. Over._" Her voice apologetic.

"Don't worry about it. Thanks, were about to the hanger, we'll get hooked up to our live feed in a minute. Over." Jasper let her know.

_"Copy." _She shut off our links and we boarded our jet. Zafrina's jet sat in the hanger adjacent to ours and Cherish took Lacy there to get her cleaned up. Mona, with the help if Ivan, took Jason to the back of our jet, we had less people here than Zafrina's. It would hopefully ease Mona a little knowing that. Ivan left to give her more space after he helped them get situated.

"We need to get this meetin' done." Peter remarked as Char turned on our visual link to Mac's team.

"There's only a couple of hours a' darkness left. We'll have to wait 'til tomorrow." Jasper told him.

"We can meet with them in the dry lake bed say around midnight." I said. I was tired and instead of stumbling around like a' junky needing a fix I sat down in one of the cushy chairs. Jasper picked me up gently and put me in his lap. Peter and Char sat across from us as we watched Mac and his team in their element run around in organized chaos come up on the screen. He had the feed coming from one of the cams that showed the entire communications room. I imagined that was so he didn't have to stop and talk to us face to face.

"Tomorrow midnight at the lakebed," Jasper nodded agreeing and continued, "We need to recover and get our shit together. We have some people who need to heal and feed first." Jasper's arms tightened on me letting me know he was talking about me. As if I didn't know who he meant. I snickered at his cuteness. He didn't seem amused, but gave me small smile nonetheless and kissed my temple. "We'll have to be at our best with this many coming."

"Can you keep track of movements coming into the lakebed, Mac?" I asked as he bounced into view on the screen.

"_You jest_." Mac sarcastically replied.

"I know, just making sure we're all on the same page." I said tiredly.

"Yes. Sorry. Things haven't been any cup of tea around here, either. We're a little on edge. It doesn't seem to slow down." He did look tired.

"What can we do for you from here?" Jasper asked him and for some reason the gesture made me swoon. Yep. I needed blood.

"Let Izzy talk to Rosalie, that would take care of one of my problems. She won't shut up and is driving everyone mad within a hundred feet of their room." Mac sniffed turning to give me puppy eyes. Fuck not the puppy eyes. It was the hope in them that got me. I hate hope. It sucks me in every time.

I sighed and resigned to the fact a shower and some sustenance would have to wait. It couldn't take more than a couple minutes to hear her out. "Ok. Is she hooked up?"

"Just by voice. She destroyed the monitor in her room. Emmett can't contain her." Mac's voice was full of bitterness. Uh, oh. Don't fuck with Mac's electronics rule number one through one hundred.

"I thought you had her tied up?" Peter asked.

_"Emmett."_ The one word was all Mac had to say.

"Can't say I blame him," I sighed. "Let's get this done."

"Are you sure? I was only half joking, but if you're not up to it we can hold her off." Mac stopped to appraise me, waiting for an answer. I knew he would put up with more from Rose if he had to. He would do that for any one of us, but this we could do for them and it would distract me for a little while. Who knew maybe Rose had something important to say.

"Yes, I'm sure. Put me through to her." Jasper huffed at my agreement.

I turned to him, "We need to get this done, don't you think? It shouldn't take long. We'll get it out of the way and take of other matters." I wiggled my eyebrows at him. It didn't work.

"She can wait. We don't need to do this now." he was snappy.

"I shouldn't take long, a few minutes at most. Then we don't have it hangin' about us makin' us wonder, we can relax that much more. Let's just hear her out and we'll be on our way." I promised.

"You are a stubborn woman." He said exasperated.

"I know." I kissed his sweet lips and turned looking at Mac once Jasper sat back giving in, "Let's get this done."

Mac made some commands and people shuffled making it plausible to talk to Rose.

"Princess Rosalie? We have Izzy online." I laughed at Mac's insincere sarcastic address of Rose. We heard Rose's bitching ass voice come over the speakers, by the sounds she wasn't anywhere near happy. Maybe I should have waited.

"_It's about fucking time._" Rose snapped.

"Hello, Rose." I said sing-songing my greeting. "What is it that you believe I want to hear so badly you have to raise such a hell?" I asked. My voice was a little colder than I intended.

There was a pause and I could hear Emmett pleading with her to be nice.

_"I watched the tapes_," Rose addressed us, "_Eleazar told us the rest. Or as much as he would._" Her last sentence was snide.

"Ok." I prompted when it sounded like she was done speaking. What did she want me to say? If that's what she wanted to tell me I'd be flying the jet back myself to kick her ass. I think I'd have to wait in line behind Mac and Jasper however. Mac was hard to get all riled up and she had succeeded in doing that. She was fucking with the time I could be feeding and being washed up by Jasper. Jasper was growling lowly behind me I'm sure thinking the same thing.

I heard her take a deep breath, "_I have something to tell you. You said I could come to you if I knew something."_ the hesitancy in her voice didn't question, but the apprehension and fear did.

"Yes, but I also said you could tell anyone of us. What's this about Rose?" I snapped. Patience grasshopper.

"_I need to tell _**you**_. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings. I also want to make sure of Emmett's and my safety_." Her voice held such vulnerability it actually made me pause.

"You're safety from us or by us?" I asked.

"_Both_."

This must be good I thought pursing my lips.

"Ok, I must say, Rose, you've peaked my interest now. I don't know what you want to tell me, but unless you killed one of my people or you were truly involved in Carlisle's mess with Alice, you are quite safe." I reassured her.

"_You promise?_" She said meekly. Rose didn't do meek. I sat up a little more.

"Yes, and you have my full attention Rose, _so whenever you're good and ready_." I was exasperated with this dance.

"_Do you know Alice went on trips at least twice a year? It varied really_." Rose's voice took on a cadence I didn't understand or identify.

"Yes, we knew that." Was there a point?

"_What you don't know is, I went with Alice once when she went overseas to one of her… __**fashion shows**__._" Her voice was so small I almost didn't hear her.

I sat a little straighter and realized I was leaning forward when Jasper's hold got a little tighter, "And," My voice tight as a bowstring.

Jaws were hitting the cabin floor at her confession.

"_And… she… took me to the Games._" She whispered.

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**A/N**

**Told you it was going to be short, and with a cliffy... go ahead yell, I can take it.**

**I'll be posting again soon, promise.**

**Sorry about all the mistakes, couldn't be helped.**

**A big "GET BETTER SOON" to Letsjustdance!**

**Rec's this week; LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE TALKING~ by busymommy / Jasper/ Bella story with lemons to die for. Very HOT!**

**Another one; The Dangerous Edge~ by rightkindofmonster**

**Til' next time.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N**

**A long chapter. Get ready! lol**

**Thanks Letsjustdance and Bripearl for your input and correcting this doosy. If there are mistakes it's cause I was foolish enough to believe I could add stuff and not make mistakes. lmao**

**Thanks readers! Fanfiction let me reply to some of your reviews but rejected most of my attempts. **

_**Rose and Emmett's speech will all be in italic.**_

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_Previously;_

"_Do you know Alice went on trips at least twice a year? It varied really_." Rose's voice took on a cadence I didn't understand or identify.

"Yes, we knew that." Was there a point?

"_What you don't know is, I went with Alice once when she went overseas to one of her… __**fashion shows**__._" Her voice was so small I almost didn't hear her.

I sat a little straighter and realized I was leaning forward when Jasper's hold got a little tighter, "And," My voice tight as a bowstring.

Jaws were on the cabin floor at her confession and what we could only guess to what was to come.

"_And… she… took me to the Games._" She whispered.

**~ Secret Fillet ~**

**~Izzy POV~**

I was so fucking dumfounded I couldn't even speak for several minutes. None of us could.

Maybe it was the loss of venom, or maybe the day's events that had me rooted to Jasper's lap. Maybe it was something in Rosalie's voice that gave me pause. I surprised myself by not jumping up and screaming immediately at her confession. Maybe I was just too numb and getting used to the revelations being thrown our way.

Not the case for Emmett apparently who started bombing her with questions and accusations.

The rest of us sat like statues absorbing the implications. This wasn't going to be a few minutes of bantering. I would never admit it, but Jasper was right, we should have waited.

Taking a slow deep breath I let it out slowly. Rage, astonishment. The two emotions battled for dominance in me and I tried to settle it. I wanted to shriek, shake and pound on her. My ribs throbbed with effort not to stand and verbally attack her_._

But what good would it do me? I tried taking in the big picture and not the obvious path of annihilating her. I couldn't kill her or have her killed until she told us what she knew. Rose better be happy I wasn't there. The importance of information and her coming forth now kept me from speaking the words that would end her life. It kept me in my seat wrapped in my mate's arms. His soothing mojo filled the room making the tension recede enough to think properly.

His strength lent me strength to gather my thoughts.

When I did find my voice, I tried to keep it even and non-combative, "Tell us, Rosalie."

We should know the full story before I ripped her head off. It became my mantra. I liked Emmett enough for that. Besides, she had vital information that would help us. It was that possibility for real information that sent a thrill down my spine and the pain kept me from screaming at her.

Emmett let out a tremendous roar to something I didn't catch that Rose said.

"_Let me explain,"_ Rose pleaded when Emmett's emotional outburst grew to mere snarls, "_I'll tell you all everything, I promise. It only happened once! I swear to you. It was a one time thing that Alice forced me to do!"_

I chewed on her words a few minutes. I turned to the only person in the room who knew Rose, and raised my eyebrow in question. Jasper's eyes were narrowed at the screen where Rose's voice mixed with Emmett's and Jasper whispered we at least could hear her out. His face was stone giving nothing away, but the bond told me otherwise. He was just as curious as we all were.

"Tell me about it Rosalie, or we stop asking questions and start taking action." I told her.

I heard Emmett grumbling and hissing at Rose, his speech impaired by his clenched teeth. By the sounds of it he had no idea. I would not want to be her. They argued and spat until Jasper finally intervened.

"Rosalie, Emmett! Enough! Answer the damn question!" his body stiff behind me. Jasper was already mad I'd agreed to talk before feeding and now Emmett and Rose's antics were grinding on the last of his reserves to keep himself from hauling my ass away from the drama. It was obvious to him too that this wasn't going to be simple or take a few minutes. The whole thing was confusing and fury inducing.

Peter and Charlotte leaned forward waiting, their faces morphed into wrath unleashed. I could only imagine Jasper's mojo was the only thing keeping them from tearing something a part.

"_Hello to you too, Jasper,_" Rose tried for snide, but it didn't quite make it.

"Rose. Last. Nerve." Jasper snapped each word.

"Explain to me first why you choose now to tell us this. **Are** you involved in all of this?" I had to ask.

"_No. Not the way you think. I've started this all wrong, but there's no easy way to say any of this, is there?_" Rose said.

"Speaking, would help," I said dryly, "The only reason I can think of for you to not tell us earlier is because you're involved somehow. But that doesn't make sense, does it Rosalie? You **know** what happened to the others for their involvement in this fuckery. By coming forward now, you have to be very brave or very stupid. You don't strike me as stupid. So what you have to say has me intrigued. The only thing saving your ass from a whoopin' is me being here, so start talking." My angry verbal lashing trailed off. Getting angry only hurt my weakened body. Jasper's cool waves of tranquility soothed me and I leaned back into him exhausted. I could feel his anger, but he held it together.

I could go get blood, but I'd probably end up fucking Jasper in front of Peter and Char. Not that they would mind. Not that I would care. Fucking Jasper like a rock star, when given human blood, seemed to be routine now. Now was not the time for it.

"_Ok, ok." _Rose said_, "When I tell you this I hope you understand by the end the choices I've made. Why I've done and said the things I have since you brought us here. Even the way I treated you and my attitude over the years toward everyone. If nothing else, please know Emmett had no part in this and didn't know. Please don't make him a target, even if you don't understand why I've kept this a secret." _

"Tell us your story, Rose, we'll keep it in mind." I was making no more promises right now.

Taking a big breath she began,_ "I'd gone with Alice before on a couple of her wild expenditures of shopping and fashion shows before. So when she asked me to go with her on this particular trip at the last minute, I thought nothing of it. We were supposed to be going to Paris. I didn't know until we got to Paris that it wasn't our final destination. We took a train and then a private jet to another location. I'm not sure where it was, Alice knew the people flying the jet and she wouldn't let anyone tell me where we were going. She kept telling me it was a surprise. If you knew Alice then you know this behavior wasn't unusual. I played along." _Her words rushed together.

"_How could you not tell me anything?"_ Emmett interrupted at the same time I asked, "You didn't know where you were going?"

"_Just listen and I'll tell you." _Rose answered Emmett in a hushed tone, and then raising her voice_, "The only thing I could figure was maybe somewhere in Russia. I didn't understand the language the pilots were speaking, before that day it wasn't a priority to lean another language. Bet your ass I made it a goal after. I'd heard enough from visiting the Denali's to at least recognize it._

"_When we landed, we were met by a couple of thugs in hooded robes. They made Alice and I put on similar robes before we got off the jet and there was a limo on the tarmac waiting. That's when I started really questioning what was going on. I didn't want to put on the robe, it was night, so didn't understand the point. Alice told me to be a good little girl and do as I was told. We argued and she finally convinced me it was part of the surprise. So, I did eventually put it on. _

_Once in the car is when she started explaining what was going on." _She took a deep breath seeming to gather herself before she continued.

"_She explained to me that the place we were going to was the biggest secret of the vampire world and if I ever spoke of it I would be going back to Emmett in a jar. By then we were flying down the road in the limo with the two men who'd picked us up sitting opposite of us. I laughed at her. Her entire personality seemed to be changing… morphing, and it made me nervous. Her demeanor changed from light and pixie-like to menace incarnate. I was getting a little scared. I didn't know where we were and who was taking us there. We were out in the middle of nowhere. I was tired of the secrecy. Her new attitude was getting on my nerves._

"_You know me and my mouth, I snarked back at something Alice said and one of the guys sitting in the back of the limo with us, bitch slapped me." _Her breath hitched and sounded like she was trying not to cry. Emmett growled and we could make out what sounded like him pacing_._

"_Shit like that doesn't usually hurt_." At that Emmett was snarled. She said something else but Emmett's expletives were too loud. Then I heard her say, "_He hit me so hard my neck snapped_." We had to wait while Emmett got his shit together. Rose consoled him telling him she was fine now and to let her continue.

"Why didn't you tell us this before Rose?" I asked wearily when things quieted on their side of the monitor. "You could have told us all this when we picked you up. I don't get it." Because really? I didn't.

"_Lots of reasons. Too many to name. Like I said, you need to hear the whole thing before you'll understand." _She sounded tired too and for many of my own reasons, I couldn't find it in me to feel sorry for her_._

"When did this take place?" Peter asked.

"_Who's that?" _her voice holding a new fear.

"Peter and Char are with us." I heard her exhale a long breath and she gave a weak ok. Her playing victim was about to get on my nerves. Or maybe because she was it unnerved me. I just didn't get it.

"_It happened when we were living in Minnesota. 35 years ago_," I guess she decided to answer Peter after all_, "Thirteen years before moving to Forks. You must know I never went on another trip with Alice again. She asked once and laughed when I freaked out on her. I never went with Alice again alone on __**any**__ trips._

"_While I sat in the limo and my neck healed she started making threats. She made a lot of threats that day. You see, Emmett and I were thinking, right before I went on the trip with her, that we could get our own place and leave the family for a while… or forever. We wanted our own lives separate from them and true privacy. After Alice and Jasper joined us, it just seemed the thing to do. We didn't want our own coven or anything, just to be able to not to have our minds groped and our futures read and our emotions checked every time we turned around. No offense Jasper, it had nothing to do with you per say, or anyone for that matter. It was something-"_

"No offense taken Rose I understand, trust me. Continue." Jasper was edgy and constantly rubbed his fingers over my ribs and sides reassuring himself I was ok.

"_Alice, I guess, hadn't liked our plans of leaving. I found out that's why she asked… begged me to go with her. She took me on the trip to show me what could happen if we tried to leave._"

"_That's why you insisted on staying when you were so gung-ho to leave_." Emmett's commotion stopped and he whispered aloud.

"_Yes."_ She answered him.

"Tell me what happened once you got to the Games." The rest could be sought after later. Priorities.

"_We were taken to the mountains. No civilization around for miles. Just this stadium looking thing that didn't look like it belonged." _She continued.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"_The place we were, we were surrounded by snow covered mountains. There was nothing, and I mean _nothing_, else around. Nothing you would associate with humans anyway. The place looked like it had been constructed recently. It stuck out like a sore thumb. There were tents set up around the perimeter of the structure. It was round instead of oval like a football stadium would be. We were escorted inside the stadium by the two assholes that picked us up. Once inside, there wasn't a field with football players. It was a pit of sand with high fence like stuff all the way around the field or arena or whatever. _

_"Alice told me this was a _family_ secret. She wouldn't tell me how, but she said Carlisle, Esme and she were invested deeply and I wasn't going to fuck it up. I didn't understand what any of it had to do with Emmett and me and said as much. She just said that to uphold the outer image of Carlisle's coven we had to stay. It didn't make much sense, but none of it did._

_"Alice met with two men there_." I heard her take another a deep lungful of air_, "One of them was from the Volturi. The only reason I know is because of the painting that hung in Carlisle's office. It was Caius._"

I wasn't the only one who growled and hissed. This was getting to the good shit. This is what we needed. Excitement rolled through me.

Rosalie however was finally on a roll and ignored our growls.

"_The other man had a thick Russian accent like Kate has sometimes. But this guy didn't speak English and if he did I didn't hear him speak it. No one spoke to me let alone acknowledged my presence. Seeing Caius made me extremely wary. I began to think maybe what Alice was saying had merit._

_They all talked while I stood there looking stupid and after a bit a woman joined them. Alice acted really weird around her. She actually bowed to her." _her last statement was incredulous.

"What did she look like?" I interrupted.

"Mahogany hair like yours, it came past her shoulders. My height. Gorgeous. I don't know why?"

"Did you catch her name?" I asked sitting forward.

"_No, They all spoke in a language I didn't know and if they said it I didn't understand it. Alice seemed to know them very well, laughing with them and joking around. I heard Emmett's name and mine mentioned more than once, which I know they did on purpose. _

_Another man joined them after we'd been there about three hours. He never said a word. He'd just nod or shake his head when they addressed him. He had long black hair and scars everywhere. One huge jagged one ran from the top of his hair line down the middle of his face into his collarbone like he'd had his face ripped off at some point in his life."_

_"_You think it was Christopher?"I asked Peter.

"I would bet money on it." He said soberly nodding.

"Christopher?" Jasper asked.

"He's the Power who has Australia." I mumbled while thinking.

"_Not to stop the story, but who are all the Powers? You said there are eight, right? Who is this guy exactly?"_ Emmett asked hearing me answer Jasper.

"Stephan and Vladimir / Romanians who have Russia. Aro, Caius and Marcus from the Volturi. Sophia, who runs leftovers of Russia, Asia, and more. Yakini is in Africa. Liam in Ireland and that region. Eleazar and Zafrina you already know. And then Christopher who was just mentioned, has all of Australia." Peter ran them down for him.

"You think the man was Christopher?" Jasper asked.

"Yes. I don't know another vampire who has scars like that. They're very distinguishable." Peter concurred.

"What did the Russian look like Rose?" Char asked her.

"_He was short, scraggly head of long brown hair. He was older when he was changed. This might sound odd, but you could just tell he was older than dirt. His skin actually looked aged_."

"That could be one of the Romanians, Vlad or Stephen." Char guessed.

"True. A'right. Tell us the rest Rose." Peter said.

_"After that Alice took me to one of the tents on the outside of the stadium. The tents were huge and there must have been hundreds that wrapped around the place._ _The tent we went to looked set up just for her. There was a huge wardrobe for her. She made some calls and then there was a wardrobe for me too. I don't know why, we never took those damn robes off."_

"How long where you there for?" Char asked. Char was like me; wardrobes were to consist of necessity, not gluttony. We liked nice things, but not in excess.

"_We were there for four days." Rose answered._

"Four?" I thought the Games only lasted for two.

"_Yes. The excursion we were on was supposed to be for a week and a half. Going to fashion shows and shopping. Girl-sister-bonding time." She snorted derisively, "The first day seemed to be for social hour, preparations and everyone to get there. While we were in the tent another man came and argued with Alice awhile. He kept motioning to me and yelling at her. No idea what they said so don't ask. He went away mad. Alice laughed. _

"_Twelve hours after we landed in that place Alice and I went to the stands. We sat with Caius and the woman Alice bowed to, in a private box. Mute man joined us bringing someone with him. The original Russian guy brought someone with him too, and Caius had someone with him. The dark haired woman was the only one who didn't bring an extra. They chatted with the other people around us in other boxes until the events started._

_"Alice explained to me what was going to happen as it went. She told me these were a time ol' tradition of fun for an elite group of the vampire race. She asked me if I knew about the Gladiators in old Roman times. She said this was similar to that. She told me Caius was born before that time and loved the idea and was disheartened when they'd come to an end. _

_He changed several Gladiators as a result. When it proved dull for him because they could kill so easily he took up trying to find others who could compete against them. He wanted a good show. The only way to do that was to search for something equal to a Gladiator. In the meantime, he wasn't the only who had thought of this idea. He soon found others with the same passion and lust for the sport. Over time it has become what it is today."_

"She told you all this?" I found that incredible.

_"Yes. Who was I going to tell?" _True.

"What else did she tell you about it?"

"_That was the extent of the history lesson. It was just to give me an idea of what was going on and one more thing to knock into my head that I was insignificant to the big picture."_

"Did she tell you how she got involved in it all?" Char asked her.

"_No, she wouldn't talk much about herself even when I asked."_

We encouraged her to continue on with her story of her time there. By this time we were all on the edge of our seats in anticipation rather than contempt. No matter how she came about it or what her involvement truly was, we seemed to be entranced.

"_The first day of expeditions was individual elimination rounds." _There was a long pause as if she were remembering.

Before I could encourage her confession she spoke again, he voice had changed to one of awe and horror,_ "The first to come out were just vampires. One of them had a gift. I wasn't even sure what it was exactly. They fought for less than three minutes before one of them had been torn apart. I found out that elimination meant annihilation. The winner walked to the edge of the arena getting something from an enormous official looking person. He then walked back and lit his opponent on fire._

"_This went on for hours. One after another; two people would enter the ring and only one walked away. Some had gifts but most didn't. Alice won money on some of them. They were betting like crazy._"

"She didn't win them all?" Peter snorted.

_"I wondered the same thing. But she can't…__** couldn't**__ see last minute decisions. I think she was getting off on the fact she could be wrong. The outcome was unpredictable to her and she seemed to thrive on it. _

_"I didn't understand why this was so secret and why she'd gone to such means to bring me there. Yeah, they were killing each other, but so what? I thought maybe she was threatening me with putting Emmett or I in the ring or something._

"_Then other beings started coming out. Ghouls. Dhampirs. Things I have no name for. Alice explained what each of them was. Half beast half man beings, shape shifters of one form or another. I don't even know what they were at the time and still have no names for most of them; I stopped asking I didn't want to know. I was scared shitless. All the different beings…no one was supposed to know about them. They were all brutal. The silent threat was enough, but Alice being Alice explained it to me. These games weren't allowed and were banned from taking place. Knowing about this and talking to the wrong person would get me killed. Now that I knew about it, we could never leave the family. She made me wear my hood down so everyone could see me. I wouldn't be safe anywhere in the world._

"_Then came these two behemoth men, like the ones in the limo but even bigger. Alice told me they were Giants."_

"There were Giants back then?" I was shocked.

"_Yes, there were Giants there. They were all around the place. When I said the winner would go get matches or whatever to light their dismembered opponents on fire? It was from a Giant_. _The ones standing guarding our box, they were Giants."_ She sniffed and Emmett cooed.

"_It was one of the reasons I ran when I saw them in the basement in the place you took us. I know it was wrong. I know it was… horrible thing to do. But at the time… you have no idea what all ran through my head in that very moment. It just brought back so much. The Giants we watched in the ring… Oh god. You have no idea. They were horrible. Brutal. I watched the first one go up against what Alice called a ghoul. That's when Alice told me what the Giants were and what ghouls were. The fight lasted 20 seconds, and that's because he played with the ghoul first. The giant won. Then_…" she choked, "_then he ate the ghoul_."

I knew it! When we'd watched that video of the Giants with the ghouls as their play toys, I'd found it odd they didn't use dhampirs or vampires. And the smell the giants put off when cut open in South America was so similar to how a ghoul smelled. They only used ghouls on that island. At least in the little snippet we watched.

"_I thought ghouls were tougher than humans?"_ Emmett's voice was full of confusion.

"They are. They're skin is tough but unlike vampires and dhampirs their insides are weaker. They don't have the venom to strengthen them like we do."

"_What? I thought they had venom?"_ He asked and I answered distractedly.

"Original ghouls were found by Vlad or Stephan an eon ago. From the few they found they experimented on them to try to make more. What ghouls are today are hybrids of what they used to be, thus making them stronger yet weaker. To create them it takes a ghoul and human heart exchange then venom from a vampire poured directly into the human chest cavity to give it a boost to reattach itself and restart. This starts the transformation. They burry the transforming human or put them somewhere isolated until the transformation is complete. Anywhere from a week or so to three months.

"Once they're done transforming they come out with tougher skin, no heartbeat, no scent, venom for saliva, but their veins are filled with blood and very little venom. They have to eat raw meat to survive. They're even known for cannibalism in some cases. Endless life unless beheaded, then they're dead. However, loosing a body part other than the head, they can survive because the body part will grow back."

"_Stronger but weaker_," Emmett concluded.

"Yes, so the Giants are Gladiators, Rose?" I curved our discussion back to topic.

"_No. They're bred from the Gladiators, like you just said, a hybrid of sorts. I told you, Caius wanted competition for his precious? Alice said he took the Gladiators and experimented and came up with the Giants. I stopped her from telling me more, sorry."_ She said as she took shuttering breath.

"Mac," I interrupted Rose to give her time to get her shit together.

"Yeah?" He said distractedly.

"Did you see this on the Island?"

"No, but that doesn't mean anything, they took the ghouls they destroyed out of camera view when it was all over. The next day they did it all over again like we'd seen previously. Cheese and I were thinking maybe they'd found an accelerant to heal the ghouls. We didn't think of the possibility they were different ghouls because they were being eaten. We just figured well… lots of things but not that. If she's telling the truth, what we saw was them just playing with their food." Mac's voice cracked.

We sat in stunned silence waiting for Rose to calm herself. It was a lot to take in.

"Ok, Rose. What happened next?" Jasper wasn't waiting.

After a hiccup or two Rose started talking again, "_The last were the two Giants to come out individually, that ended the first round I guess. Then there was an intermission of sorts. Just like at a football game. They had entertainment come out._

_"The entertainment… Alice explained the people involved were always looking for talent. And sometimes when a human was found with latent talents of sorts, or was good at something, they would be brought to the games to show their potential. There were also humans there who knew too much. It was a creative way to get rid of them. _

_"The humans fought each other and while they did, instead of betting on who the winner was, they bid on them. Alice said it was a way for the lesser groups to make money. She said there were also recruiters who only brought in talent to make money on that part of the games."_

She was silent for a long time what she said next made perfect sense_, "It's why I was adamant about not having you in the family, B. Alice had trouble seeing you. I don't know if you knew that. She wanted you. Edward couldn't read your mind. She knew there was something special about you. No one deserved… to go there."_

"Did Edward know all this?" I'd hate to have to kill him now, but I would in a heartbeat.

_"Not that I know of. She didn't like him. But he was a pawn in her games. I didn't ask a lot of questions after coming back from that place. She never once mentioned Edward in the scheme of things like she mentioned Carlisle and Esme. But I did look at things with new eyes. I didn't want to _be_ or _have_ any part of it. But you didn't deserve what you got. Alice was a web of destruction I don't think many people understood just how evil she really was. She had her hands in so many things. She never did anything without a reason. I pushed as much as I could where I could, but I never won."_

I chomped on that for moment.

I realized I believed her. I couldn't find anything in her voice so far that was a lie. On the jet down to South America I knew she'd been lying. I just couldn't figure out what about. Things were clicking into place now though. Things started to make sense.

Her attitude, her lies, her denial.

Alice had Rose wound so tight she was pinching her butt cheeks just to stay alive and protect Emmett. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. She watched Alice spin herself in a cocoon taking everyone around her with her. Keeping her enemies close. Using every single person she thought would be a gain for her. She played everyone with no remorse.

Rosalie trusted no one.

Not for the first time, I realized we would never know the true extent Alice went to to keep her world just the way she wanted it or why.

"_This next part is the part that made sure my mouth stayed shut for so long_," Rose continued_. "After the entertainment left, there was somekind of counsel thing. The box we were sitting in was what would have been the fifty-yard line on a football field and was by far the largest although there was hardly anyone sitting with us._

_"Vampires started approaching the box in front of us on the sand. I didn't understand what was going on, Alice didn't tell me. _

_But I finally got it. Alice's group was Royalty. They ran the show, and the people coming before them were conferring with them._

_A group or a single individual would come before our box and petition Alice and the others. There were only 4 groups out of the twenty-two who approached, that I understood._

_The first had a grievance against another coven. The man was pissed off that it was allowed for him to lose a battle __**and **__his fighter be taken from him. I didn't understand fully until later, but he went on and on how unjust it was that not only did he lose money he lost his fighter. He petitioned for this rule to change. They turned him down. _

_The second was a man who wanted to enter a new species. They voted and allowed it._

_The third was someone who wanted to ask for money, or petition for someone to back him, Caius said he would send someone to his coven and negotiate a deal. _

_The fourth was there to sponsor a newcomer to the games. He had to give the name of the person and who's coven they belonged to and why it would benefit their Majesties for the newcomer to be involved. Alice did her thing, looking into the future, and said they would have to check further and they would let them know either way within a month if the new person would be admitted._

_The rest I couldn't tell you. Alice would look into the future at each request tell the others what she saw, then Caius, the Woman, the Russian, the mute, and the others along with Alice would all converse vote and then pass their judgment. _

_It was obvious to me, from that point on, Alice could do whatever the fuck she wanted and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Caius being there led me to believe the Volturi were involved, I couldn't even go to them. _

_I didn't know anyone else. I realized at that moment how isolated the family truly was. All the things I was thinking before then as to how I was going to blow the whistle on her, went out the window. Alice knew it too. She told me 'see, I own you, never forget it'. And I didn't._

_Then the 'group exhibitions' started. Anywhere from two to four in each group. There were a few more giants, but there were more creatures that were 'other'. Creatures you couldn't even imagine. One group had wings. WINGS! I never figured out if they were real or not. Neither one flew so I thought they were for decoration until they got ripped off and they acted as though they hurt like a bitch."_

"How is it possible these creatures exist and no one knows about them?" Peter asked. And I knew he was asking about the entire scope which included the shape shifters, ghouls and dhampirs along with his question.

_"I asked the same thing," she sounded tired, "Alice told me they were created over the centuries. She said there were compounds hidden in the middle of nowhere and underground that housed them year round and were only brought out to attend an event."_

"And we've never heard of them? How many people were in the stands? Why did she tell you all this?" Jasper asked.

_"Like I said before, she didn't have anything to lose by telling me. Who was I going to go to? Who was I going to tell? Who would believe me? I could have gone to Eleazar, but if Carlisle was involved I assumed Eleazar knew. Alice thought she was invincible. Her gift made her feel like nothing could ever touch her. I could see it in her eyes when we were there. She was a queen amongst those people."_

After a short pause and yet another deep breath she said,_ "There was less than a thousand but close to it in the stands. Alice said people who talked about the games to outsiders were sought out and killed unless it benefited them. Her visions allowed her to track everything and helped corralling the secret. Anything that was associated with the games she would see before it happened or the result of it. She could nip it in the bud before it got out. She gloated they'd almost been caught a couple of times, but since she joined them, there had been no one to stand in their way."_

"That insinuates she could see everyone. How could she see the shape shifters? She can't see the wolves, how could she see the others?" Jasper asked.

"I been thinkin' 'bout that." Peter spoke, "I think it has somethin' to do with the legends of the wolves. They were made to destroy vampires. The other shape shifters?" he shrugged, "I don't think they have the background the wolves do."

"That makes sense actually," I was impressed at Peter's insight.

_"We hadn't met the wolves then, by the time we did, I didn't talk to Alice about things like that." Rose went on, " You guys need to understand. She was treated like royalty there. She __**was**__ Royalty. Everyone seemed to know her. Besides Caius I didn't recognize anyone. There were a lot of people there in the stands that kept their robes on and hoods up. Guards walked the stadium constantly keeping disgruntled gamblers and owners in line. There were huge amounts of money exchanged and it was all monitored to what seemed the nth degree."_

_"The third day was eliminations for the previous victors and the fourth day were championships. There were categories, but like I said I didn't understand the language and by that time I was too afraid to ask. I didn't really want to know and it didn't ultimately matter. I just wanted to go home. Alice was a pig in shit. She got a lot of attention and money for being a fortuneteller to those who were brave enough to approach her. The box we were in was well guarded at all times._

_"The fighters that made it up through all the fights fought several times. The only difference in these fights was that they didn't light them on fire. They let the 'owners' or whoever come out in the arena and scrapes what was left off the sand. If there was anything left of them_.

"_Remember I told you the one guy petitioned about loosing his fighters? Alice told me the owners who were coming to get the destroyed were actually the owner of the _winning_ combatant. They won money and the loosing fighter."_

"_Why didn't you tell me any of this?"_ Emmett asked dumbfounded.

"_I couldn't. Like I said, Alice had her ways of keeping people under her control. At first I tried when we got back. But she was always there thwarting my efforts reminding me what would happen if I spoke of it."_

"What did she threaten you with?" I asked. Curiosity killed the cat… and Monstress wanted to know.

Rosalie sighed again heavily, "_What didn't she? Death mostly. She threatened she'd put Emmett in the games. She said he'd probably make it far enough that when he lost he'd be taken away to another coven. Both Emmett and our human families well-being were threatened most of all. I don't know them, but I don't want to be the cause of their deaths. I don't have many left, but Emmett does. His brother had kids and so on. I knew she'd do it after what I saw, and wouldn't bat a lash after._"

"How did you keep all this from Edward?" Jasper asked what we all wanted to know.

She huffed, "_On the way back home, Alice told me never to think of it, and if I slipped she threatened me more. She told me that Edward could only read surface thoughts. I could easily distract him with thoughts of Emmett or fashion or myself and he would never know my deeper thoughts. Vampires think in layers. I had to learn how to keep the games to myself. It was pretty easy really once I got the hang of it. Just to be on the safe side, I didn't think of it at all when Edward was around. Ever."_

_"But we've gone on trips by ourselves, how could you not have made a last minute decision and just tell me?_" Emmett's voice was sad and I could tell he felt betrayed, but most of all he was livid.

"_That's the thing Emmett. We were never really alone after that, and I don't think we really had been before. Alice made sure there was someone close to us at all times. Not close enough to sniff out but close enough if I tried to tell you, they would be there to kill us. She went as far as to take pictures of us and give them to me when I returned making sure I never forgot there was always someone around._"

"Why didn't you tell us any of this when we first came to you Rose? You knew we had Alice contained." I asked her.

"_I've spent the last 35 years scared shitless of what would happen going against Alice. There wasn't a time she didn't persevere in reminding me she was in charge. I hated her. I came to hate everyone more than I already did. This life hasn't always been easy for me. The only reason I'm still here is because I still have Emmett."_

"You defended her so adamantly, and we had her contained!" I repeated.

"_Who did you have pick us up? Ghouls and dhampirs. I looked at it this way. I know what's out there. I know… knew what Alice was capable of. I'd never seen Alice lose. The old joke 'never bet against Alice?' That saying has many different layers depending on who you were to her. I didn't think you would be any different. She always came out on top. Did you think I would stand with a losing team and wager Emmett's life? Fuck no. Don't tell me you could do that with Jasper's life. A mate is all you have when the dust settles."_

I could understand her point. There was nothing I wouldn't do for Jasper.

"_Alice was around every corner. She told me Carlisle knew what was going on and where she'd taken me, and my efforts in telling him would be futile. She told me he supplied some of the creatures in the games. He was a silent partner. Now, after seeing the tapes, I'm not clear on what his part was_. _Just because you had Alice didn't mean you could stop Carlisle from blowing the whistle. You had those creatures here that I'd seen in the ring. Who was I supposed to trust? For all I knew you were a part of it all. When you first came to us I didn't understand __**what **__your game was." _Her stress caught up to her and she let out another small sob and whimper.

"_What Carlisle did… was… I have no words. What he tried to do when he created me? I can't even process it right now. I want to kill him! I hate he was taken so quickly. He didn't deserve an easy death. It's probably good he and Esme are dead, because if they weren't they would be __**praying**__ for hell."_ Her words were full of fire and death. I almost wish we'd been able to save them for her.

Again, she made sense. I could easily see where she was coming from. It fell quiet again as Emmett whispered to her and we all tried to digest this new information and how we could do with it now. What a mind fuck.

"_I'm not sorry_." Rose whispered, "_I've made mistakes, I know this. I didn't know who to trust when you came for us. I won't apologize ever for trying to keep us alive. I thought maybe this was another of Alice's schemes somehow. You were alive, B. How did she __**not**__ know that? I didn't know for sure if you were a part of this… if you were an enemy or ally. I went as far as to believe that you guys were trying to take over her position. Then when you took us down to South America and all that happened. Then shipped us off to train,_" She let out another sob, "_I was convinced you were training us to fight in those god awful Games. _

_It wasn't until Eleazar showed us the tapes that I started thinking differently. You have no idea the relief I feel that the cunt is dead. At first I wished it had been me to kill her, but the fact that she's dead outweighs the revenge. Carlisle on the other hand, and Esme," _she spat_, "I wish I could have been there for that. Alice never told me any of that. Probably because she knew if I got wind of it, all bets would have been off. I would have killed that fucker then and there."_

Carlisle and Esme were lucky that was for sure. I didn't doubt Alice would have seen that coming. I could see where Rose's mind had been where we were concerned, too. I felt a tiny bit bad. Not that any of us knew what she'd seen and been through, but I could completely see where she could think what she did.

I can't say if I was in the same position I would have done anything differently. No wonder she never got over her attitude even after we were down in South America. Rose thought it was another fuck storm centered around Alice and the world Rose was not supposed know about. Even after everything we told her, she thought it was all lies. And who could blame her? We had some of the same preternatural staring her in the face.

I thought back to all the things I wondered about since we had them in our custody. The things that I said which could be construed, as she said, 'to fuck with her.' Yeah. I can see how shit got mixed up and backwards for her.

Us not knowing what had happened to Rose in the past just made it that much worse. I said all the wrong things and none of the right ones. It's hard to have hope when you've lived on a knife's edge for so long.

"_Alice was always playing head games with me_." Rose confirmed my inner ramblings, "_I'd warp myself into knots thinking of her motives and trying to walk on eggshells around her landmines. I haven't trusted anyone in so long that it's hard to believe anything anyone tells me. Especially someone who offers you a way out of the madness_. _Too good to be true."_

That was understandable. It seemed Alice had no end when it came to her webs of destruction and deceit. Ugh, was I feeling sorry for Rose? Bleck.

"_At the Games. One of the things that shocked me most was that Alice drank human blood." _Rose sounded incredulous. Her reveal didn't surprise me however._" She told me it was easy to conceal it from everyone because she knew how much she could drink and supplement animal blood until her eyes were back to normal. No one knew. If they did, I never got wind of it. Before the games she left me in her tent and left for a long time. She posted a Giant outside the door so I didn't think about going anywhere. She was gone for hours. When she came back her eyes were bright red_.

"_When we left that place, four days later, she gorged herself every chance she got on animal blood. By the time we got on the jet for home six days after that, her eyes were golden again. She said using her visions used up the human blood and she could pass it through her system quicker."_

"So the more she would use her visions the more she would deplete the human blood and replaced it back with animal blood." I confirmed.

"_Yes. She said it was easy. She told me how she knew how to control her emotions around Jasper, too. The family's diet worked in her favor for so many different reasons. She knew how to get around Edward and Jasper's gifts. She knew how to fake visions and put them together to fit her needs and guide the family where she wanted it to go. She said it couldn't be more perfect to create a coven that drank animal blood._"

"She said she created the coven?" Jasper asked for confirmation.

"_Yeah, more liked _bragged_ about it. She found Carlisle. She told him who to change. She controlled every one of us. Alice said she was so happy I was in on the secret now so I could stop muddling her visions with Emmett and my leaving and she didn't have to be careful around me. We were all her little pawns_." Rose sneered.

"Did she ever mention anything about me? Why she had me to begin with? Why I was even there?" Jasper questioned.

"_No," her voice regretful. " Sorry. I didn't know to ask. I thought it was strange she would have to hide her feelings to you, but I figured you knew about everything. And I didn't know she was as old as she was, either. I had a feeling she was older but not as old as she was. She never hinted that her background story was different, but I often wondered. I had no idea about her and Maria or any of that, I'm sorry Jasper._"

"It's not your fault, Rosie," Jasper used the same nickname Emmett used. I could hear the smile in her voice when she thanked him for understanding.

"I have more questions about the games, Rose. Do you think we could go back to them?" I asked.

"_What do you want to know_?" She asked quietly.

"If you were shown pictures, would you tell us if any of them were there when you were?" Her memory was forever and we could put a huge wedge in the pie of knowledge with her insight.

"_I don't know_…" she hesitated.

"_Come on babe, they aren't going to hurt you_." Emmett said quietly.

"_I know, it's just—can they protect us?" _She hiccupped.

Jasper answered, "Yes. We can give you protection. The place you're in is secure. You're surrounded by allies, Rose, we won't let anything happen to you or to Emmett."

"He's right, Rose," I agreed, "If what you're telling us is true, which we have no reason to believe your lying, you look at the pictures and you show us who was there. We want to stop this from going on. With your help we can know the big dogs. Even if you don't, we'll protect you for however long you need it."

"_What about after? What happens after? What if whatever you're doing gets you killed? Who's going to protect us then?_" she was near hysterics. So unlike her it rattled me.

"No one needs to know who told us or pointed fingers. No one." I told her adamantly, "You should talk to Eleazar—"

"_I don't think he'll want to talk to me now_," she whispered. I could hear the regret in her voice.

"I think you'll find Eleazar is a very reasonable man, Rose. I would bet money he understands why you attacked him. I think he empathizes with you more than you give him credit for." Jasper said quietly.

"_I understand that we're under your protection, does that mean we have to be part of your organization_?" she asked.

"You're under our protection, but what are you asking exactly? If you have to fight with us?" I asked.

"_Well, yes and no. I'm not stupid enough to believe you'll let us go. But when Eleazar sat us down he said if we wanted we could stay in his Line. If it's true that he'll forgive me, we could go back to Denali with him. I want to know if that's something we really have a choice in._" There was that hope.

"Is that really what you want?" Jasper asked. I got the feeling he wanted them with us.

"_It's something I'm hoping will be an option. Emmett and I need to talk. But I want to know what our options are."_ She told us.

"I don't see why not. We're not going to make you be a part of our group if you don't want to be. That's too much of a risk to us. I hope you understand I don't mean you ill when I say that, but the people we fight with want to be here. If you don't, then your concentration isn't in the game and people die. We haven't forced anyone to stay so far we're not going to start with the two of you. I think Jasper would like you to stick around if you wanted, but the decision is yours." I said.

She let out a heavy breath. I had a feeling it made her feel less trapped having options. I don't think she'd really had options in a long time. Eleazar could keep an eye on them as well as we could.

"Thank you." This was so unlike Rosalie it kinda made my head spin.

"Mac," I started.

"Already on it."

"Good man."

"I know. I want a raise." He deadpanned. He looked so serious the whole room laughed. Always about the money.

None of us were paid to do this shit, "Ok. Consider it in the mail."

He chuckled with us and the tension eased in the room. I didn't realize how on edge everyone was.

"I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I'll get a video feed into them so next time we talk it'll be visual." Mac said.

"Alrighty."

The screen went black.

While we'd all been talking to Rose, Nevell and Edward had snuck in and taken the love seat. I waved at them. Edward looked sulky.

"One of these days Edward I'm going to kick your ass so hard you're going to forget to sulk and think about how bad your ass is hurting." I prattled at him.

The room burst into laughter. Well, all but Edward who managed to sulk some more.

"Maybe ya' should go flog your bishop a bit, Eddie boy, and relieve some tension." Peter told him.

"Ah, come on," Nevell's easy English accent broke in, "leave the fecker alone, he's had a bang up day."

I laughed, "So what happened?"

"It's a long story and does not need to be hashed out now." Same ol' Edward.

"Seriously, Edward. Go get laid." I told him. I may have been a little harsher than I meant to be. Jeez. I hurt. "Did you text Rucker?" I asked Jasper distracting myself from standing and smackin' Eddie. It wasn't his fault I needed to feed and now that the drama was out of Rose I didn't have a large enough distraction from my pain.

"Yeah, he said he'd be there." Jasper said.

"Good, who else is coming?"

"There's ten leaders now, Nevell and Edward secured the last one before returning." Mac gave us the final total.

"Not sure how many will show up, but we made useable contact," Peter's eyes laughed at us, "with ten leaders? That's not bad for two days running 'round. How many they all bring with them, that's the question. They know it's a non-violent meeting of minds against a common foe. Some a' 'em are extremely excited. Most are comin' to see the truth about Major."

"Do we trust any of them?" Char asked.

"Of course not. We don't know who's in bed with Maria, per say, or even whose a part of these Games yet. But we've used every one of them at some point in the last ten years to one extent or other. Whether for information or their facilities," Peter shrugged, "we've made contact and started the ball rolling. The meetin' outcome will depend on individual motives."

"When are the other teams due back?" Jasper asked.

"They're all here." Nevell answered, "They're all waitin' for orders and takin' turns for showers."

"I'm getting cleaned up here." I said standing up.

Jasper growled, "Isabella needs to get the venom off her before I go mad."

"Get it done then," Peter said popping to his feet dragging Char with him.

"Let's get Eleazar's jet down here if we can, that way we can all clean up. Whoever needs to can go to town and get a hotel room if necessary. It'll be easier that way if they need to feed and whole up and get clean after. We can meet at nine tonight. " I said.

"Sounds good, I'll let everyone know. If we bring that jet down here we'll draw even more attention to ourselves. We can't do that." Peter said frowning.  
"Well shit. All right, hotels it is. If asked, we're all here for a wedding."

"That'll work."

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

I wanted a hotel room if I was being honest. But that wasn't going to fly for hours since we were to meet with Rose shortly. Mac had informed us that the damage Rose did to the room would take too long to fix so they would be moving her. That bought us a little more time.

We ended up making a bunk in the belly of the jet for Mona and Jason. He was healing nicely with Mona's help. Them being secluded in the luggage and storage away from us all would hopefully settle down her growling and snapping at everyone.

Peter told the rest of the group standing outside and hanging out in Zafrina's jet what the plan was and were told to meet here at nine tonight so we could finish a game plan. Everyone was told of course to be cautious and keep the ears and eyes open for trouble.

Most everyone took advantage to go into town. We didn't have reserves enough to feed everyone, so anyone who was wounded took bag a o' blood and the rest would have to suffer with taking human life or finding an animal to munch. The ghouls and dhampirs could find food where they could also. No one ever went hungry.

We ordered up several SUV's from the local Car Rental place and had them delivered. Ivan and Rod were going to see if they could find if Monclova had a blood bank to re-stock our supply and give those who refused to take human life some nourishment.

Getting everyone arranged and taken care of Jasper and I finally made it to the showers another hour and a half after I announced my intentions of a shower. Char finally told Jasper if he didn't get me out of there she was going to slap me cause I was getting so grumpy I was snapping and snarking at everyone. Jasper hissed he was trying and dragged me off.

We finally found ourselves alone in the back of the jet. And I began to relax.

Jasper undressed me taking his time to kiss every inch my rib cage and breasts with such tenderness I could have died and been happy. I felt his fingers brush over my new scars. Looking my fresh scars over I sighed at what I saw. I had a feeling the way I was going, by the time I was fifty, I wouldn't have a place on my body without a scar. I tried to remind myself I survived and I was better for it. It was hard to believe the lie when looking at the deformity. But I tried. They scars would heal more in time and would slowly fade, but they would always be there.

Feeling the hot water hit us as we climbed in the shower was delightful and eased some of my tension relieving the pressure on my ribs. Jasper insisted on cleaning me and I let him. He brought blood with us into the shower and while he washed my, feet, calves, knees and thighs I opened the bag. He didn't look up when I did and I smirked down at him, remembering I'd wanted a bag of blood just like this not so long ago when he was in this position.

I tipped the bag up to my mouth and let the undeniable taste of heaven fill and consume my taste buds.

Sweet relief.

I'd lost a lot of venom when my rib cage was open. I let my moan escape me and when I swallowed I purposely let some of the blood dribble down my front. I watched it run down, split between my breasts, over my new scars, and rejoin right past my belly button. It raced the droplets of water splattering me from Jasper as the stream of water hit his back.

The pink trail slipped down over the mound of my pussy and dipped perfectly between the top of my slit and dropped right in front of Jasper.

His head snapped up to meet my eyes, then slowly slid his eyes down my body, following the rapidly disappearing trail of pink blood. When his eyes saw it's ending path, his feral snarl rumbled from my feet to my head, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"I was trying to be good. Even though I felt your mischievous emotions," he choked a hoarsely, "I didn't-" he cut himself off as he leaned forward. His breath washed over my pussy and I shook with anticipation.

Tipping my head back I downed the rest of the bag making sure to let more dribble out of my mouth. I threw the empty bag out, grabbed the next bag, and ripped the top with my teeth. I didn't need two bags and had told Jasper as much. But he'd insisted. It looked like it would work out in my favor after all.

I watched Jasper flick his tongue out and catch the droplets I purposely missed. Barely touching my pussy with the tip of his tongue, I bucked trying to get closer to that beautiful mouth. His full soft lips forming that sexy smirk as he pulled back, was enough to send me panting wantonly.

The lust swirled around us thickly as we played our game. Jasper's scent intensified with his arousal and it mixed and danced with mine.

Such a sexy fucker.

Tipping the bag again, I watched him take his eyes from mine and track the red ribbons as they streamed down the crevasses of my body. As it reached my pussy, he took me by surprise as he dove into my folds. Licking, sucking, nipping caressing, and flicking his tongue across, over and in me as he chased every drop of the blood. I was shamelessly moaning with his efforts to get every drop that touched my skin.

"So sweet, darlin'. So good," He moaned against my flesh and my eyes slid almost closed as the feeling of my impending orgasm quickly approached.

"Jasper," his name left my lips in a hush and a plea, "please."

He lifted my leg up and I helped by putting it behind him on the wall and tilting my hips, exposing myself to him. His tongue slipped between my folds and slowly entered me.

He was driving me nuts.

The rush of blood I just consumed flowed through me giving me a high I could barely contain. I needed faster, harder, deeper.

"Jasper," begging urgently as I rocked against his face. He took my cue pressing his mouth harder to me.

I felt his hands slide up the back of my thighs as he brought me closer nipping on my clit.

One hand held my lower back and the other slid down between my ass cheeks.

"Ohhhhhh," I panted and finally gave up trying to keep my eyes open. My head bounced off the wall as I let it tip back and I gave myself over to the sensations of Jasper's ministrations.

His finger circled my ass and the jolts of new sensations made me gasp and whimper.

He hesitated and I pleaded, "Please, yes."

No longer uncertain, he pushed slowly into me. Clamping his mouth on my clit and flicking his tongue fast I was distracted from the intrusion until he withdrew and thrust a little more forcefully, going deeper. My ribs completely forgotten for the moment. They dully ached, the blood helping to heal them rapidly, now far in the background of my mind.

"Unnnghhh, goddyess," Damn he was good at that.

Reaching down running my hand into his silky curls, I ground myself into his face and he met my pace with his tongue and his fingers.

The sensations rocked my body and my moans became louder as he took me to my limits.

Slipping another finger inside my ass was too much for me and I fell over the edge chanting his name.

Jasper slid up my body, running his fingers over my scars. His hand snaked around my neck, pulling my mouth to his. Still unable to open my eyes, my mind and body fell easily into his scent, touch, and essence. Slowly bringing me to earth I found function in my limbs and began to run my fingers over his body.

He pulled back from my mouth whispering against my lips, "That was erotic. You are so beautiful. I love you." nipping my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, I sighed in gratification.

I chuckled and when I did, it jostled our bodies and I felt his heavy need against my lower abdomen.

"Mmmmmm," I hummed against his pouty soft lips and slip down his body.

"You-" he got out before I took him in my hand and he groaned. Squatting on the floor, I spread my legs open to rest on his outer calves in the small cramped space. I took him in visually.

My fingertips were unable to touch around his cock as I slowly stroked him. Running my tongue up the slit of his head, I took his offering with a flick of my tongue. I moaned and hummed in pleasure against his tip as he bucked and hissed.

I loved when he did that.

His body seeking mine. Seeking my touch. It sent thrill through me.

I let him slip into my mouth as I slid and twisted my hand up and down his hard length.

Looking up through my lashes I watched him pant. I stopped with his head in my mouth and watched him.

He was so beautiful.

His golden curls falling to frame his face, coming just past his chin. The water dripped off the spirals of shimmering gold and in slow motion, it seemed, dropped to me. I could feel each drop that fell from him run down my body and slip to the tile beneath us.

His lips were parted and his tongue snuck out quickly to grab a drop of my taste left behind by my body. I moaned around him and his eyes squeezed a little tighter for only second before they relaxed again.

So sexy.

Watching him, I slipped him further in and watched as his bottom lip quivered at the feel and the time I was taking to give him what he wanted. What he needed.

His eyes slowly opened and the dark lashes of his eyes flicked quickly, ridding themselves of the beaded droplets of water that clung to them. His eyes swirled with black, burgundy and garnet as he peered at me.

"Isabella," his lips barely moved as he whispered his plea.

It felt like I was in a slow vortex of lust, love, desire, need, want. It swarmed around us, gathering us in its spindles and elevating us into its greedy web. I pumped my fist and watched him draw a breath.

The love and pure need in his eyes for me made me whimper.

My mouth engulfed him, giving in to his desires as he had given in to mine.

So adorable.

He sucked in a breath, eyes drooping, and he struggled to hold them open.

I watched as water ran down his collarbone, traveling down over his pectorals, caressing the outer ridge of his hard nipples and continuing its journey over his ripped abs.

My mouth glided over him, feeling the heavy vein on the underside as I stroked it with my tongue. Each ridge, each bump, each tiny and large part of him got attention as I lavished my devotion onto him.

A soft 'fuck' and Jasper's eyes slid closed, no longer able to hold them open.

My fingers and palm followed the rhythm of my mouth as I engulfed him over and over. My hands found their way to his hips and thighs as I tipped my head back and at just the right angle took all of him. His eyes snapped open as my nose touched the small dusting of hair on his love trail.

"Damn." He hissed.

I moaned my response and let my eyes fold close.

His hips shifted and he finally gave in to push himself in my mouth no longer able to contain his desire.

Oh yes.

Letting my hands glide to his ass I opened my eyes and encouraged him as I slowed and stopped and he continued.

"Oh, god." His voice quivered as his hips bucked and his cock rocked in and out of my mouth.

Oh, yes.

My hands pulled him further inside my mouth as he quickened his pace even more and he let me know with his growl how much it pleasured him.

The head of his cock sliding down the back of my throat, then pulling back halfway, only to plunge back quickly again, was enough to drive me wild.

Over and over.

At his next pass I moaned deep and throaty.

"Shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck," his pace sped.

Bringing my hand up to cup his balls, I gave a slight squeeze and swallowed around him with his next thrust.

"Isa.. Isa… IssssaBellla!" he snarled, panted, snapped, moaned and hissed as he flew over the edge, "Arrrnnnngggggghhhh."

Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**Rec's:**

**Bitemarks & Bloodstains by forthelongestday ~ so so so so GOOD! J/B story only 3 chapters in.**

**Love ya all**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N**

**Another short chapter. There's a surprise though, hope that makes up for it.**

**Next chapter will be longer.**

**Thanks to BRIPEARL AND LETSJUSTDANCE~ my Beta's and life preservers!**

**Enjoy!**

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_**Previously;**_

_My hands pulled him further inside my mouth as he quickened his pace even more and he let me know with his growl how much it pleasured him. _

_The head of his cock sliding down the back of my throat, then pulling back halfway, only to plunge back quickly again, was enough to drive me wild._

_Over and over._

_At his next pass I moaned deep and throaty. _

_"Shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck," his pace sped._

_Bringing my hand up to cup his balls, I gave a slight squeeze._

_"Isa.. Isa… IsaBellla!" he snarled, panted snapped, "Arrrnnnngggggghhhh."_

**~PLAYER LINE-UP~**

**~Izzy POV~**

I didn't think I'd ever see Rosalie Hale looking less than perfect. By the time everyone was cleaned up and back to the jet she looked haggard and rough around the edges if I do say so myself.

Peter, Char, Nevell, Edward, Jasper and I sat waiting for Mac to finish setting up. When Edward had joined us, Jasper pulled me into his lap careful not to jar my ribs. Giving him a questioning look his eyes flicked to Edward and back. I didn't know what that was about but I didn't press.

Edward looked like he got some of his tension released for him. He wasn't all angsty looking anymore. From the little I heard from the girls around here, he could have his choice. He was fresh meat. I snickered at the thought. The once believed virgin-stick-wedged-in-the-ass Edward was a player in the company with women who would eat him alive and spit him the fuck out.

I knew the women in our clan. They were vicious when it came to something they wanted. They didn't get out much and when they did it was usually to fight and save lives. There were R&R times everyone partook in just to keep the tension and some levels of sanity in check and relieve the pressure, so to speak. But it had been months since anyone had had that luxury.

Edward was prime pickin'. Since nothing was much a secret around here, everyone knew his ability and everyone learned quickly how to covertly disguise their thoughts around him. Human blood helped him look deeper, but the vampire mind was cavernous and vast. Edward didn't stand a chance. Those women would blindside him before he could even think about cumming.

I laughed again as I watched Edward, his mask slowly falling back into place, as he sat looking across the cabin out the window in front of him. I hoped they'd chewed him up good.

"Eleazar is joining us, I sent Sarah to fetch him and Carmen." Mac's voice filled the increasingly empty silence bringing our attention to him.

"You didn't say fetch when you sent her did you?" Peter chuckled, "I think she could kick yar arse."

"I'm not as dumb as you are when it comes to woman, Petey." Mac smirked.

"Got that right," Char muttered as the rest of us chuckled and Peter scowled playfully.

"I thought some of the unidentified pictures we have, Eleazar would help us to put names to faces if Rose identifies any of them. He can go through all of them for that matter." Mac said.

"Good idea." All of us echoed one another.

"I showed Rosalie pictures. She identified some. We already knew she recognized Caius. But I'll let her tell you the rest." Mac motioned for Eleazar and Carmen to take seats as they walked in. Mac had set them up in one of the Rec rooms. Chairs and couches were re-arranged and put in a semi-circle around the monitor. A large coffee table sat in the center with piles of glossy photos and Rose was looking through them carefully. I was impressed she seemed to be taking this so seriously.

Jasper and I had talked briefly about Rose's confession and we both agreed we believed her. We understood the reasons she'd done what she had. The events that progressed after we had taken her and Emmett were easily identified and were congruent with what transpired from there.

We were still wary of her; no amount of wishing would change the fact she hadn't told us sooner. She was telling us now and that's what we needed to focus on.

Eleazar settled in a chair closest to Rosalie who sat on the center loveseat. Carmen moved to take the chair next to Emmett patting him on the shoulder and offering him a warm smile to which he tried to return. He almost pulled it off. You could see the war that raged in his eyes and I felt a little bit bad for him.

Eleazar's eyes flitted around the table looking at the piles Rose had aligned but he didn't say anything. Mac quickly briefed the newcomers on the events Rose had given us and what was taking place. Although he looked slightly miffed at the turn of events, to Eleazar's credit he didn't ask for further clarification. I admired the patience the man projected. Curiosity dominated his features but he held his tongue.

"Whenever you're ready Rose," Mac encouraged her. Her eyes snapped to him and then to us on the screen.

"I just want to say," she hastily bolted her eyes to Eleazar, then Carmen, before they found her lap, "Eleazar, Carmen, I'm very sorry for attacking you. I-"

"No need. I should have been prepared for such a reaction, and your reaction was not without merit, dear Rosalie. Don't let it happen again, but I am to blame as much as you. We shall move past it and be better for it." Eleazar's gentle reprimand and brush off of events seemed to soothe Rose and her shoulders lost some of their previous tension as she took a deep breath focusing on the piles in front of her.

"Alright," Rosalie nodded composing herself as she snatched a picture holding it up, "This woman is who Alice bowed to. Mac said it's Heidi."

Sure as shit. Damn. Having it confirmed sent butterflies through me, anticipation made the hairs on my arms stand straight up.

The next picture she held up, "This was the Russian with Caius." It was a picture of Stefan.

"This was the scarred mute guy," lifting the next one up. "Mac says it's Christopher."

Eleazar hissed and his features failed to hide his anger and incredulous76ness. But I followed his glare and he wasn't looking at the picture of Christopher anymore, his eyes were on the next one down. From this angle I couldn't see who it was.

Rose picked it up, "This was the man with the Christopher guy," there were several gasps at the picture she held.

Eleazar stood quickly snatching the photo from Rose's fingers, "Are you sure?" he shook it at her.

"Yes." The Rosalie that we knew and loved to hate seemed to spark to life at the hostility from Eleazar. Good, I didn't like emo Rose. I didn't like bitch Rose either but it was better than the emo, easier to snark back to.

Eleazar stared at the picture, "It's just that, well, he is a friend of mine. If what you are saying is true, and I have no reason to doubt you, but… this is most disturbing." His head shook back and forth in negation.

Holding our questions back we waited to see if he was going to elaborate.

"He came to the Volturi years ago when I was there. I befriended him and when I left he left with me. We were companions for a long time. He was originally from Ireland and wished to go home to his homeland. I let him after a couple of centuries of helping him establish himself. He is the newest next to Zafrina to have a position of Power. Zafrina inherited hers while Liam got his by hard work and building his own empire."

Edward looked puzzled, as did Rosalie and Emmett. So I answered the unspoken question.

"He is one of the Power 8 residing over Ireland, Scotland Quebec, Greenland, Iceland and Newfoundland."

"Quebec?" Edward raised his brows.

"He needed more land and vampires to be a Power." Eleazar answered him. "I gave him the territory from mine so he could assume the role. I can't believe he's a part of this." The last sentence was whispered and the pain in his voice evident.

"He and Carlisle were friends," Edward was sitting forward with his brow furrowed putting pieces together.

"I introduced him to Carlisle when Carlisle came to me. They were good friends from what I understood. Now I wonder… could this be who he was supplying? Was Liam helping to fund Carlisle in return for Carlisle to supply _him_?" Eleazar's voice shook with ire.

"There's a thought." Peter muttered.

"You are sure Rosalie." Eleazar asked again.

Instead of being snarky this time she merely nodded and said, "Yes."

"What about the others Rosalie?" Jasper asked and Rose focused back on the coffee table.

The next picture was of Vladimir, "He was there before in the tent. He and Alice argued at length. I don't know what about. I only saw him the one time."

"Vlad wasn't with everyone in the box at the games?" I was surprised.

"No. He was only there in the very beginning. It looked like he asked Alice something about the future if I had to guess. She did her little eye thing and they argued. He was angry at whatever she seemed to tell him. And then he left. That was it." She said.

"Ok. Next." Jasper said.

"This was the guy with Caius. The only time I ever saw him was in the box. He gave me the creeps." She held up the picture.

Another collective round of gasps.

"_Huilen_." Peter hissed.

"Is there a picture of the person who accompanied Vladimir?" I asked her.

She shuffled through the picking up an image of a roguish well-tailored looking man. His face was square with a head of dark hair and a jaw to slice cheese on.

"That's Isaak. He's a second in the Russian hierarchy." I identified him. It's hard to forget that face. I don't care who you are, the guy was hard to miss. "Was there anyone else who sat in the box with you?"

"No, that's all of them."

"So the run down if I got it straight was; Stefan with Isaak, Christopher appearing with Liam, Caius with Huilen, Alice with you and Heidi by herself. Is that all of them?" I asked. Something didn't sound right.

"Yes."

"There were nine of you in the box?" I asked again.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes."

Why did that not sound right? I didn't think she was lying. Something just felt off.

"What is it?" Jasper squeezed my waist where his hand rested.

"I don't know, nothing, it…." I trailed off, I didn't know. I looked over to Peter and raised a brow. If something were missing he would be the one who would pick up on it. But he just frowned and shook his head like he didn't know what I was talking about. I shrugged. Maybe I was being paranoid or reading something into it that wasn't there.

I turned back to Rose, "Did you find photos of others in the boxes next to you, Rose? Or anyone else that was there?"

She nodded and picked up another stack and started flipping through them to show us.

The first was a woman we didn't know but Eleazar put a name to. Rose said she'd been next to their box and had chatted with Alice and Heidi.

There were more like that. There were a few we didn't have names for and Eleazar helped us out. There was only a couple that neither of us knew.

They varied from where they came from. Not a single Power was untouched by the debauchery. Eleazar was pissed when a picture was shown of a coven leader in his territory. After I saw what he did to Carlisle and Esme, I can't imagine what he would do to someone he felt less for.

When Rose picked up another smaller stack she said, "These few are ones who I found so far who petitioned Alice and her committee at the intermission, or whatever the hell you want to call it."

She held up a picture none of us recognized, "I didn't know what she said. She had another vampire with her, but he didn't speak. She could have been asking for sponsorship or permission for them to join, I just don't know."

She showed us the rest including one of the English speaking ones that Eleazar was able to put names to.

When Rose was done showing us the ones she'd gone through already we sat back and let ourselves absorb it. Rose took another stack she hadn't gone through yet and began leafing through them. We had a lot of pictures. A majority of them were satellite pictures and kinda fuzzy, but it always amazed me how far technology had come that you could take a picture of someone through a window in a house sitting in a bathtub from space.

Something was still niggling at me and I wasn't able to shake it to save my life. I closed my eyes and pictured what Rosalie had described to us about the place she was taken to. I followed the events putting myself in Rosalie's shoes.

I heard Eleazar ask Rose if she would tell him more about the games and heard the papers she was scanning through stop shuffling as she began her tale all over again. He wasn't privy yet to the story Rose had told us.

As I listened to her re-cap it for him I walked through it with her. Picturing Rose there alone amongst people who wouldn't bat a lash if she didn't make it out of there alive. No one talking to her. Unable to understand the language. She'd been quite observant for someone scared out of her mind. Rose wasn't stupid.

I kept going back to the Royalty box as Rose had called it. Picturing them sitting there looking all dignified and petrified, watching the blood, venom and gore take place in front of them. Betting and cheering on the fights.

I snorted at the thought of all nine of them looking regal, proud, sophisticated and egotistical in their high-falutin robes.

I listened to Rose tell Eleazar about the mid-game festivities, the humans who had come out to fight each other. I heard Eleazar comment about Esme's gift and how they might not have sent them to labs after all. Not all anyway. With Esme having been able to detect potential gifts, they could have sent them easily to Liam to prove themselves in the Games or be sold off. That made sense. Carlisle's connection with Liam could have proven a way in for Carlisle on several different levels, not including Alice herself.

It still made me wonder why they hadn't sent me. There were too many variables to wrap my head around that one and I shoved it away for later.

Rose relayed to Eleazar how after that display, there was a parade of supernatural beings that petitioned time from the less than savory company in her box. She told him how Alice would look into the future and then they would vote.

I sat up and my eyes snapped open.

Nine of them.

All nine.

Nine.

"Let me run this down real quick, Rose," I interrupted rudely which drew all eyes to me, "So you're saying Vlad had Isaak with him, Caius had Huilen, Christopher with Liam, and Heidi was alone and Alice had you right?"

"Yes, we went over this already." She sounded bored.

"Humor me. All nine of you sat in the box." Old history, but still I was working this out.

"Yes," the exasperation dripped from her.

I tapped my fingers on Jasper's thigh thinking.

"Who voted?"

"What do you mean?" She looked puzzled.

"You said when they were petitioned they would put it to a vote. Who seemed to conspire and voice a vote? All of them or only some of them? Think carefully."

She thought about it a minute, "They all did." She gave a tight nod.

"All eight of them."

"Yes." She snapped.

"You're positive." Just to fuck with her.

"YES." Her snap turned to a snarl. I snickered. I was such a bitch for provoking her, but I liked the fire now in her eyes.

"That's what's off." I said proudly and slapped my leg. Fuck I hated when something nagged me like that.

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked.

"You don't vote in even numbers." I gloated.

There was silence as everyone worked out the numbers.

"There were nine in the box, that's what threw me. But Rose didn't vote, did you Rose?" I double checked and to piss her off.

"No. I didn't know what the fuck was going on." She huffed.

"Maybe one of them wasn't voting." Char said furrowing her brow.

I shook my head, "I think they all were. I don't think Liam was there as Christopher's friend."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Rose snapped.

"No. I think you saw right. They could be friends," I backtracked, "Or they showed together for whatever reason. That's not it. It's Alice having you there actually that's throwing off the curve."

"Without Rose there it would have still made the number of voters 8." Char said quietly.

"I think what Izzy's trying to say is that Rose was there instead of someone else." Nevell caught on.

"Yes!"

"But I didn't vote." Rose insisted.

"I know. I think there was someone missing in the box. Alice could have done her fortune telling and voted for someone else. Did you see a picture of Maria?" I asked.

"No I don't think she got to that stack yet," Mac snatched the photos from Rose shuffling through them and then handed one to Rose. "Do you recognize her?"

Rose looked at it for only a second before she was nodding her head, "Yeah, she was there. She was one of the petitioners."

"She didn't speak English." I guessed.

"No. Knowing now who she is, she probably spoke Spanish. She had a guy with her when they approached."

"A red head?" I asked taking a shot in the dark.

"No, he had black hair." Shaking her head.

"Ok. So maybe she was there to petition, but that doesn't make sense why they would make her stand in front of them if she was Royalty. I think it was someone else who was supposed to be in that box." Voicing my inner figurations.

"Who?" Char asked.

"Good question." I shrugged.

"I don't get it. Why couldn't they vote in 8? They only have 8 Powers right?" Edward asked.

"There _are_ only 8 Powers," Eleazar answered him, "But there is a Liaison who votes with us so there is never a tie."

"Liaison? Who?" Edward implored.

"His name is Alistair. A bit of a nomad, he has spent time with all the Powers at one point or other over the centuries. It is my belief he is the oldest vampire of us all." Eleazar told him.

"He doesn't have territory, or whatever? No kids?" Edward pushed.

"No, he has not sired anyone that I know of. Well, none that are still living anyway. His 'territory' is everywhere, he has no boundaries per say. He is contacted and brought to meetings when needed. That has not happened in centuries however. It is a very rare occurrence when all Powers are in the same room with each other. You can understand the enormity of that, I'm sure." Eleazar snickered.

"Huh."

"So do you know who the missing person was?" Peter's looked expectantly at me.

"Uh, no." I shook my head and Peter scowled at me, I shrugged at him. I had some ideas, but I wasn't ready to say anything yet. I wasn't sure.

"What's the Peter-Meter know?" Jasper snickered, "You gettin' anythin'?"

"You guys don't want to know." Peter's eyes lost some of their luster instantly.

"How long have you known something?" Nevell asked.

"Right before Rose started goin' through photos. I didn't want to interrupt." Peter half shrugged.

"Well…" Nevell said when Peter fell silent.

"We're goin' to end up at those Games. And it's goin' to happen sooner rather than later."

"How soon?" I pressed.

Peter shrugged, "Soon."

"You know more?" Char asked.

"Not yet, and that's creepin' me out. I feel there's more, but it's not forthcoming yet. We're missin' somethin'. I don't know, I think we haven't decided somethin' that we need to decide before the fuzzies clear. I just know we're goin' to be there. I don't know _how_ we'll pull that off."

Rosalie went back to looking at the last stack of pictures Mac brought not recognizing anyone. She finally threw the last picture down.

"Unless you have more, I don't see anyone else." She sat back on the loveseat and Emmett wrapped his arm around her pulling her into his side.

"Thank you Rose, it means a lot that you went through them." She looked a little shocked I'd thanked her. "It was a huge help."

"You're welcome." She said quietly.

"You're pretty quiet Emmett, you ok?" Jasper asked him.

"Just trying to figure out who I want to be mad at. The people who I want to confront for fuckin' with my wife are gone. Just… just trying to adjust to all this." His words were a far cry from the venom lacing his voice.

Poor Em.

"You can always go down to the fourth level and ask someone to spar with you. I know it's not as fun as outside, but there's a maze down there and several different kinds of sparring rooms. One's even got paintball. Any of the vampires around there would love to have you." Peter offered him.

Emmett slowly nodded and a little gleam came back into his eyes, "I might just do that." Rose leaned back and kissed his cheek and he pulled her even closer.

"So now what?" Edward asked.

"Well, Eddie boy, we need to find those giants, and figure out where they're going. Then we have to figure out what they're doing. In the meantime, we need to get an act together to go see our new friends in a few hours. We have to lock and load and get a game plan for that fiasco 'bout to take place. We have to see if Maria shows up, but I got a feelin' she aint even in the country anymore." Peter rattled.

"Why do you say that?" Edward asked him.

"She would have to know where we are. There's no way around that. Why hasn't she attacked us? We went around scaring rabbits outta their holes and she's sitting doin' nothin'? I don't see it. We have a perimeter all around this city, and aint nobody seen anythin' yet." Peter was shaking his head.

"She could be waiting to see who all shows up tonight." Char suggested.

"True, but the spidey senses say she's skipped tha country. Whoever picked her ass up took her away from here for somethin' else. She took her gifted with her, too. That don't make my bones feel good." Peter's southern drawl was thick tonight. He was getting nervous.

"Call me crazy but between Peter-Meter, the Giants and Maria leaving," I shook my head, "It's becoming more likely this is all leading to the Games bein' soon."

Eleazar cleared the venom in his throat, "I would like to leave immediately as I have to attend to some business."

Jasper spoke before the rest of us could, "Eleazar, are you going to deal with your own first or are you going to Liam?"

"I am flying to Ireland. Liam and I have some catching up to do." He snarled.

"And when you do this catchin' up, what are your plans then? Are you going to burn him up?" I asked.

"If he has done these acts I will have to bring him before the Powers. I will not be able to do this on my own without retaliation from the other Powers and his territory. To do such would be suicide on my part." Eleazar said.

"Well, hold up. Let's talk about this. Going in there, guns blazing, is only going to bring even more shit down on everyone." Jasper said.

"What do you suggest? I let this go?" Eleazar asked incredulously.

"No. I believe you can help us." Jasper told him.

"How?"

"You can get us into the games." Jasper said.

**~JPOV~**

I stared at the monitor and wished I were in the same room as Eleazar so we could have this little showdown in person. He was our way in and I'd be damned if he wasn't going to help us. Isabella and the rest had worked damn hard to get this far, and he wasn't going to take their first chance to get to the Games away from them.

Isabella, Peter, Char and Nevell's emotions were a high mix of anticipation. I don't think Eleazar really realized what he was facing. The five of them wouldn't let him just go gallivanting off on his own whether he knew it or not. They would be right there on his ass the whole way. There was no doubt in my mind. I didn't think Eleazar needed threats though; I thought maybe he could be persuaded to see their point of view. If not, then we could go from there.

Eleazar was our way in. I didn't care how he got us there, if he had to scare the shit of Liam to do it, or if he acted like he wanted to be a part of it – he was going to buck up.

Everyone in the room only had eyes for Eleazar as he contemplated my demand. Because that's what it was, a demand.

He scowled from his side as he thought about it.

I could feel the excitement in Isabella as she waited and when it became too much she calmly put more on the table for Eleazar to think about.

"There are ghouls there who would go with you, of course. They have no scent and Liam and his coven wouldn't know they were even there, but they could assist you in whatever manner you needed." Isabella's voice sounded so much calmer than she really was. She was almost vibrating.

"I get the feeling you will be sending them, no matter my say." Eleazar stated it as fact rather than accusing and none of us corrected him. He was being smart about this at least. "I see. This is official business, not a social-"

"Not to be rude Eleazar," I cut him off because I knew where he was headed and he needed to reroute, "but I see this happening one of two ways: either you interrogate him and get him to tell us what we need, or you tell him you know about the Games and want in on it. Either way, I don't think it matters, but this is the closest that anyone will come to getting a chance to go in peacefully."

The unsaid hung in the air between us as Eleazar turned my words around in his head.

"You want me to get you into the Games." He stated like he tasted it out on his tongue to see its viability.

"Yes." I said lowly.

"I see. And let's say I get us in, because I will tell you now, I will not let you go alone, what do you do then? What is your plan? Do you want to be in the Games? Or do you want to end lives and the Games altogether? You can not just attack those that sit in the 'Royalty Box'. You will bring the vampire world down on your heads. We should call in all the Powers and take care of it quickly."

I looked to Isabella. I didn't know about her, but I felt bringing in the rest of the Powers was the worst idea of all.

To answer the question Peter spoke, "We want in. First." He looked at all of us with a sweep of his eyes, "We don't have a plan yet, but I know this; everyone showin' up isn't going to be wise. If all the Powers show up at this thing at once it'll be Vampire Armageddon. They'll know you're coming. Too many people being involved at once could blow this thing sky high, and I don't want to die. The less casualties the better."

Eleazar nodded his agreement begrudgingly, "Yes, this has been hidden for years, for all of us to show up it would be unwise."

No shit. "I think it would be unwise of you to go, Eleazar." I didn't think him making an appearance would be much better than all of them showing up. It would be chaos.

"I am going." There was no room for argument in Eleazar's voice. My mate wasn't having it, whether Eleazar liked it or not. Fuck I loved this woman.

"You will not show yourself, Eleazar," Isabella said stiffly, "You can't. You walking in there would be just as bad as having all the Powers show up and dance in the arena. The best chance we have is for you to get us in as guests of Liam's. He can tell the Royals, or whoever the fuck they call themselves, that he has potential investors or players to get us in. IF… _if_… you can get us that, we go from there. We have no idea what we'll be walking into. No lay of the land, no idea how many or who. Going in guns blazing isn't going to do us a bit of good. You going in could blow everything out of the water before we even get a chance to find any of that out. Our best bet is to have you get us in as visitors or fighters."

"I will not be left out of this. If I go to Liam, I will be going." Eleazar was almost petulant.

I sighed. I could see where he was coming from. He had an investment in all of this. His friendship with Liam was most likely over if it was true, which we had no reason to believe it wasn't. He wanted to have some semblance of control over the situation. As a leader he would have to be involved.

I kept my voice as nonabrasive as I could because I could understand how he felt, "What would you do if you went, Eleazar?"

Eleazar's face hardened as his eyes unfocused contemplating his options. He didn't have many. It wasn't like he could really go in as a potential investor in this. The Royal box attendees would find his presence threatening at the very least.

His was one of resignation as his shoulders slumped in defeat, "You are right. My attendance would raise too many questions; I would be of less use and a hindrance in any operation you may come up with. But I _am_ going," he raised his hand at the potential protest, "I will not go into the arena or close to the stadium, but I will be a part of this. I feel it is my duty, I would be in neglect if I did not attempt to put a stop to this myself."

"That can be arranged," I told him and conceded. The emotions of the rest of the room were one of acceptance and knew I spoke for everyone. I could understand his point as leader and his position of power stipulated he have hands on in this. He wasn't going to be able to just sit back and let everyone else run the show without his input. "Right now, going to Liam and finding what you can would be a great benefit to us."

"Yes. I will go, and I would be very accepting of any assistance you may give. I do not have time to wait for the others to arrive from Alaska, I feel I must go now." Eleazar turned to Carmen and she gave a small smile and a quick nod of her head.

Mac had been on listening and was now making arrangements for them to be accompanied by a group of ghouls. We had his jet down here and wouldn't make it up there in time for them to leave, so Eleazar they would have to use a commercial flight out. The ghouls would take a military size chopper and meet them at the airport in Ireland.

"I will be in touch as soon as we know anything. Please keep us abreast of any new developments that come your way."

"Absolutely. I can't thank you enough for helping with this, Eleazar." Isabella told him quietly, "Mac will hook you up with our COM system before you leave so you will get first hand what's going on, or we can communicate with cell phones, although that's not as effective, we will not leave you out."

Eleazar nodded, "Thank you." He took Carmen's hand and led her out of the room.

"What about us?" Rose asked.

"Are you sure you don't want to be involved in this, Rosie," Emmett's voice was strained and if I knew my brother, I knew he was chomping at the bit to be involved. He wouldn't want to be left out and his aggression at the situation needed some release. What better way than to fight.

"Can we talk about this later, Em?" Rose asked him quietly and Emmett snorted and gave a sharp nod.

"Do we know anything else, Mac?" Isabella broke into the tension that was mounting on the other side and Mac looked relieved for the interruption to the private moment.

"Yeah. I got a call from Jacob. The shapeshifters didn't make it. The last one died a couple hours ago. Shame really. He said that none of the bodies ever changed in form, even in death. Usually they revert back to being human if a shifter dies in animal form. It's a shame really. We still don't even know where they came from. We had a couple of leads but they fell through.

There's only 5 ghouls in South America that have not woken up now. They're all in good shape for the shape they're in. Nothing unusual. They did report not more than an hour ago, they had a helicopter fly over. Jeb tried to get a handle on their radio frequency, but was unsuccessful. I can only imagine it was someone checking to see why they lost communication with their lab. They didn't land obviously."

"Any report of the Giants?" I asked him. They were more of a concern than the rest.

"Not yet, they just crossed the boarder into Kazakhstan. We did however seem to have lost one of the helicopters. We are looking for it but have stayed with the main three who've stuck together."

"Where did you lose them?"

"Over the Caspian Sea, they went north as far as we can tell. But we're hoping it fell out of the sky and they all drowned."

I snorted, "Keep us posted."

"Will do. There's a team of eight, am I correct, around the top of the dry lake bed?" That's what I admired about Isabella's team she'd surrounded herself with. There was such passion and focus to everything they did. One second we were talking about missing a helicopter and instead of dwelling on it, they jumped right into what was a priority and what they could control. My admiration was tenfold.

"Yes," Peter jumped in and we began to talk about tonight and what we could expect to receive in way of greeting. There was an array of emotions as well as ideas on how we were going to handle the meeting.

I held Isabella a little closer to me. She was hurt and hiding it the best she could but I could feel her pain. Tonight was not opportune for her if a fight broke out. I wanted to get her away from here and talk to her about the upcoming event. Feed her. I needed some privacy. I craved it.

As if she knew where my mind had gone, which she probably did, Isabella told everyone we'd meet back here at six to finalize a game plan. Rose and Emmett had left Mac's company a bit ago saying they had things of their own to discuss and they were going for a walk through the tunnels. Mac agreed and flipped off the monitor once again.

Isabella ignored everyone including Nevell, Peter and Char's protests as she grabbed my hand and dragged me from the jet. We had the next eight hours to do as we pleased and I wasn't going to waste a minute of it.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**Jasper is getting mouthy in my head, he wants his time so next chapter will be more from him.**

**If not all from him.**

**The meeting in the desert should prove interesting.**

**GO READ: RUNNING by MERINA GREEN ~ I am so in love with this fic. And the sequel**

**CHAOTIC DYNAMICS~ her writing just wraps you up and takes you away to another world.**

**Her Bella is sanely-crazy quirky, she's just so much fun. GO READ IT! Most of it's done in Jasper's POV and he's just hot and fucking sexy.**

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**Next update next week.**

**Tell me what you think.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N**

**Thanks to Letsjustdance and Bripearl for all the work they do on my fic! They straighten my shit so ya'll can understand it. They get huge Jasper kudos! **

**WOW… Fanfiction changed their format… I don't like it **shakes head** no... I hate it.**

**This story is going to take longer than I thought. Jasper's in my head and he's wanting his time. Who can deny the Major? Not me, that's for damn sure.**

_**Previously;**_

_I held Isabella a little closer to me. She was hurt and hiding it the best she could but I could feel her pain. Tonight was not opportune for her if a fight broke out. I wanted to get her away from here and talk to her about the upcoming event. Feed her. I needed some privacy. I craved it._

_As if she knew where my mind had gone, which she probably did, Isabella told everyone we'd meet back here at six to finalize a game plan. Rose and Emmett had left Mac's company a bit ago saying they had things of their own to discuss and they were going for a walk through the tunnels. Mac agreed and flipped off the monitor once again._

_Isabella ignored everyone including Nevell, Peter and Char's protests as she grabbed my hand and dragged me from the jet. We had the next eight hours to do as we pleased and I wasn't going to waste a minute of it._

**~Sidetracked ~**

**~JPOV~**

I held her hips, impaling her on me as I came down from another mind-numbing orgasm. Isabella fell to my chest panting as we both caught our breath. Damn, the things this woman does to me. She moaned as she pulled herself off my dick and rolled to snuggle into my side.

We'd taken one of the SUV's and found the nearest decent hotel with a covered garage. Checking-in two hours ago we proceeded to fall into each other and forget about the outside world for a while. We'd found bags of blood in the truck and brought them with us. We'd obviously taken someone's stocked vehicle when we left. I couldn't find it in myself to give a fuck.

Wrapping my arm around my mate I pulled on her bringing her closer. The last dose of blood I forced her to take seemed to do a world of good. It didn't hurt me either. It calmed me and I was able to push out the emotions in the hotel that swirled around us trying to invade our tranquility. It helped, too, that I was projecting to the rest of the hotel causing everyone to feel a little amorous.

I can't believe I adhered to Carlisle's diet ideas for so long. I denied myself our natural food source creating a worse monster, in some ways, than I had been before. I'd always been on edge and on the verge of taking out a village when I'd lived with the Cullen's. I'd learned more control than I ever thought possible, however, so maybe I should be grateful. Nevertheless, I would never deny myself again.

My bloodlust was satiated for the first time since I was born into this life. I didn't have the repercussions of killing my victim first hand and the human blood had actually been beneficial instead of just keeping me alive. Not having to deal with the bloodlust of those around me helped, too. Everyone was fed when they needed and they weren't denied like Maria had loved to do to all of us. I was in control and frankly, I wasn't sure how the hell to handle that. It was almost like it came too easy.

I rubbed my eyes shaking my head at how I'd let Maria and the Cullen's control me.

"What are you thinking about so heavily?" Isabella propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at me.

"Thinking about how stupid I was for denying myself human blood," Catching her dark, rich wine-colored eyes with mine.

She leveled me with her gaze for a moment, "It's different isn't it? The level of control it offers."

"It is, it does." I took a strand of her sexed up hair, running it through my fingers, watching as the silky tress slipped along my skin. "On the other hand, taking animal blood taught me a control I didn't know I was capable of."

"Catch 22," she kissed the corner of my mouth. It really was.

"We need to talk about tonight." She mumbled as she kissed down my jaw.

I felt the scowl on my face, "Not yet. I'm not done with you." My voice was husky as I let my knuckles graze her nipple. I felt it harden at my touch and I moaned as the fresh scent of her arousal hit me. It astonished me how easy it was to get lost in her. For our bodies to immediately ready themselves to mate at such a simple touch. I was already hard.

Her eyes closed as she arched into my hand and I let her hair go to palm her breast. Pinching her nipple, I watched in fascination as her head tilted back and her mouth popped open, letting the air in her lungs slip past her lips in a soft sigh.

"Isabella," a whisper slipped from my lips as I surveyed her body, absorbing her visually. The new scars under her breasts were still raised and harsh looking, but they didn't take away from her beauty. They enhanced it, if anything. They further marked her as a soldier… a warrior, not to be fucked with… my equal. I hated how she got them, but I'd taken care of the threat. I kept reminding myself of that every time Major came forward clawing for revenge.

She whimpered drawing me away from my thoughts as I ran my fingertips lightly over the new ridges.

"Still sore?" I murmured easing her to her back and lowering my head to run my tongue along the edges of her scars.

"Just sensitive." She hissed as I licked across them, her hands instantly in my hair holding me to her. Kissing down her torso, covering her body with mine, we soon lost ourselves to each other for another hour or so.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

"We all talk."

"You talk." Isabella told me sternly.

"We all talk." I countered. Again.

"No." She held her finger to my lips as I started to further my protest, "Listen, please."

I nodded rigidly.

"They're coming to see _you_. They want to hear from _you_. They will challenge _you_. Not me. Not Peter or Nevell or Charlotte. You. If you stand behind any of us and let any one of us talk and dominate the conversation, they'll think you're hiding. They'll think you're weak. You are not weak." She trailed off as I took in her words grudgingly.

We'd been discussing this for twenty minutes now. I wanted us all to take turns talking to the coven leaders coming tonight. I thought it would make more of a united front. But Isabella had a point. If I stayed quiet or let any of them take over tonight, it had the potential to become deadly, and our efforts might not be taken seriously.

The growl in my chest made it out. She was right damn it.

"Alright, but I'm laying it out that I'm not the only one in charge. If we're doing this we have to show a united front. Going in with no secrets will go further. They'll know if something happens to me that will NOT mean the rest of you will step back and let havoc reign. It might even cut down on the initial challenges."

She pursed her lips, "Ok. You're right," I laughed at her disgruntlement, "I see where you're coming from."

"If they challenge me, darlin, are you goin' to be able to stay out of it? You can't get in the middle of it for any reason. I can hold my own. If you get involved it will only show me as weak." Besides be distracting and could end up fatal.

She didn't like that as her lips twisted into a snarl, "I don't know."

At least she was honest about it. I didn't know if I could do the same for her. Especially not after seeing her hurt so recently, but she didn't have to know that.

"None of you can interfere. They will want to test me. To test us, but I'm the front and center person, they'll want to see what I'm made of. If you interfere it won't send a very good message to them. They'll see me as weak and an easy target." I told her quietly, and almost felt bad for throwing her words from earlier back at her. From her emotions I knew she was fighting with this.

"I'll have to contain myself." She finally relented.

"You can't help with your gift either." I warned her.

By the look on her face and her sudden avoidance of eye contact with me I knew that's exactly what she'd been thinking she would do.

"I'm serious darlin'. If you interfere at all you could fuck this whole thing up. Just like you want me to be the only one to talk, I'll have to win my own battles. I'll have to fight without my gift unless someone uses theirs first." My voice was harsher than I intended but she needed to understand I meant business.

My stomach flipped at the thought of this entire thing going to shit. It could so easily. The Beast within me was riding the edge of my emotions since he'd been released and I could see myself so easily slipping back into his persona. I couldn't let that happen. Major was right there too, but I was more comfortable with him. He gave me a claw to my shoulder giving me the emotion of having my back. We tried to keep the true Beast locked up, but it was getting harder and harder.

Letting Beast out to take care of business wouldn't be good. I wasn't convinced he was secure in Isabella being our mate. He knew all right that she was, but he'd been suppressed for so long I wasn't completely in control of him when he was out. I was wary. The positive thing was he'd come close when Isabella was being hurt. He'd wanted vengeance. It gave me hope.

"Do you think Eleazar can get us into the Games?" Isabella's question brought me back into focus.

"Yes. If Liam knows what's good for him he'll listen to Eleazar. He has a coven that he's very close to and he won't want to see them hurt. I don't think it will take much to convince him to do Eleazar's bidding."

"Do you think it's really wise we go tramping into these games?"

"I've been thinking about that too. And no, I don't think we should go in looking to join the fighting. Don't you think we should see the lay of the land however? Rose said there were those in the stand with hoods, we could use those to disguise ourselves to check things out." I didn't like the idea of Isabella anywhere around the Games, but I knew I would never win that battle and so I kept it from rolling off my tongue.

"You really think Liam can get us in?"

"I think he doesn't have a choice. I've been around Eleazar quite a few times. Granted, I didn't know his true position, but just the way he rules his coven… and what we saw him do to Carlisle and Esme. I don't think Liam has a choice in the matter. Eleazar financed him, supplied him with whatever he needed, trusted him, he will do what Eleazar asks of him." I was positive on this. I don't think many people fucked with Eleazar or denied him anything.

"We'll have to be prepared for what will happen if they discover who we are." Izzy looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, Maria knows me. If Rucker says he knows some who would remember me from my time in the Southern Wars, then I would have to assume there are others. And we now know, by just your reputation, _you _are known. We can disguise you, but I don't see how we can disguise me." That was going to be a problem. The hoods would go a long way, but it would be easy to lose that.

"I want to talk to you about something." I couldn't shake the feeling and I wanted to talk to her while we weren't fucking our brains out.

"Ok." She agreed immediately and from the tight tenor in my voice she seemed to understand the importance and gave me her full attention.

"I don't know how the Beast in me will react to you… or anyone if he comes out again." I spit out in a rush. I didn't know how to start this conversation.

She sighed heavily and looked down to trace the scars on my chest with the tips of her fingers. "I know. I had a feeling." She sounded forlorn. I hated that.

"I used to think that Major and the Beast were one being. Everyone talks about his or her inner beast, and like I told you before, I had tried to talk to Char about it. I even thought at one point that Beast was just another part of Major. When I finally figured out there were two of them… Fuck I sound like a schizophrenic." My accompanying chuckle was dark.

She laughed as I slammed my head back into the pillow and covered my eyes with my forearm. I did sound like some loon who had multi-personalities.

"Hey. I know what you're talking about," her voice soft and I could feel she did understand. She pulled on my arm, but I wouldn't look at her. She must think I'm crazy.

She huffed and stopped pulling, "I used to think the same thing. But when we were up there in the water, I had to push Monstress down and pull from somewhere else to deal with your Beast. I've been so confused for so long. Having you to talk to about this is so refreshing because you have the same questions and fears that I do. Don't fucking shut me out." Her voice was commanding but not harsh.

I brought my arm away from my eyes and turned my head to look at her.

She continued more calmly once she had my attention, "I think everyone has an inner beast. Edward called it his monster. I think all vampires have that inner dark side. Where Major and Monstress came from… I don't know. Maybe we'll never know unless they decide to enlighten us. I have the feeling they don't even know exactly."

Major snorted but he felt the truth as I did in her words. She was right. I needed to stop thinking of Major as my inner Beast. My inner Beast was just that, the Beast.

"You're right. I don't know if we'll ever know. Everyone calls me Major when my Beast comes out." I whined.

She laughed, "Does that piss Major off? You know it's a good thing that people don't know there's more than one thing we draw our strength from. If they knew… well… shit, I don't know what would happen. You and I both know it's not the case. Can you imagine standing up and trying to explain all of it to a complete stranger? Or a room full of people? Is there a place for vampire loonies?"

"Not that I know of. Unstable vampires are just lit on fire. But you're right. I guess it doesn't really matter if anyone else knows." Really it didn't. And she was right, again, it was nice to be able to talk to someone about this shit.

"Peter, Char and Nevell know. Nevell and Peter have even talked directly to Monstress. But other than that, no one knows. Unless you have told someone besides Char…" she trailed off. More quietly she spoke more sternly, "If Beast comes out we'll deal with it. We can get though it one step at time. He knows what I'm capable of and I can take care of myself. I could never love you less than I do, if that's what you're worried about. I love all you're personalities, baby." And she couldn't keep the snicker out of the last sentence.

"I love you." I whispered. She calmed my nerves and put my qualms to rest for the moment and she knew just what to say to do it. She was powerful. She could take care of herself and put Beast in his place again if things got dicey. I had to have faith in that.

"_I_ love _you_." She whispered and leaned forward to kiss me. It was so effortless to get lost in her.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

"I'll never get enough," Isabella whispered into my neck kissing me lazily as we lay tangled together, coming down once again from the passion. She started to roll off me and I held her in place.

I chucked, "Never."

"Neither can the couple in the next room," She said and actually giggled. I smiled as I tuned into the noise of the humans just beyond the thin walls behind our heads. There was some panting and serious moaning going on. I had heard someone in there earlier, but from the sounds I thought it had been the cleaning service, from the activity now that didn't seem to be the case.

I laughed with Izzy as she looked at the wall intently, "Guess I was projecting a little too much there at the end."

She giggled again and we listened to the couple reach their climax. I may or may not have helped them out with that.

Isabella slapped my chest, "I felt that."

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You know what. You helped them." she accused while narrowing of her eyes, but I could see the laughter she trying to hold back.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I told her pulling her back down to lay on me.

_"Oh SENOR! I am so sorry! I don't know… I don't know what… OH SENOR! I am so ashamed. Forgive me! I don't know what came over me! I just… I...I...never…"_ a female voice jabbering quickly in Spanish came through the wall just then and we both tipped our heads back like we could see through it as we listened.

"_It's ok. It's ok. You can give room service to me anytime_." A male answered, his voice husky from his recent release, "_Just don't come back when my wife is here."_

Oh shit.

Isabella and I stared wide-eyed at each other.

A loud quick intake of air from the female_, "Oh! You are married? Oh SENOR! What have I done? I will be fired!" she was now a little hysterical._

_"It's ok! Please calm down. I'm not telling anyone. It was… well… could you…would you… well… shit… my wife never did _that_! Could you teach my wife that thing you did with your tongue there at the end? You know when you-"_

_"OH SENOR!" _the maid was now horrifyingly appalled.

Rustling of clothes and heavy footsteps retreating indicated the leaving of said female and the male was in hot pursuit urgently asking her for more.

I burst out laughing and Isabella slapped my chest again muttering men were pigs. That just made me laugh harder since there wasn't even a sincere harsh emotion in her reprimand. She was full of mirth just as much as I was. We really shouldn't have been laughing that the maid took advantage of the nearest appendage, which just so happened to be attached to a married man. This was the effect of my gift. It was my fault, but I couldn't even bring myself to feel abashed in the least.

Maybe the Jasper from a few weeks ago would have, but this one didn't. It felt good not to give a fuck.

I felt her emotions shift slightly bringing my attention back to woman who lay on my chest. The contemplative look she gave me and the curiosity she projected began fueling my own. Her next words shocked me a little and at the same time sent excitement into my abdomen.

"Have you ever played with other's emotions to get them to feel… amorous?" That sly look in her eyes she gets when she already knows the answer crept into her eyes and if I could blush I might.

Fuck. Man up.

"Yes." My voice was deep as I returned her stare. "Emmett and Rosalie are the easiest to manipulate," I laughed a little, "A little too easy sometimes."

Her eyes sparked, "Do you like to watch your accomplishments?"

My eyes widened at her bold question and I couldn't hold her knowing look anymore, my eyes skipped past her to look at the ceiling, "I didn't watch Rose and Emmett, no." I hoped she didn't catch that I really only answered half her question.

"But you _have_ watched," She pressed. Nope she didn't miss a thing.

I cleared my throat from the sudden influx of venom pooling in my mouth. I couldn't believe we were having this conversation. Even more, I couldn't believe I was telling her. I'd never told anyone this before, and to be honest no one had ever asked me. And that was saying something since I'd lived with Emmett all those years. Then there was Peter, too. But with Isabella and the lust it seemed to be fueling in her by my honesty at this revelation and I couldn't stop my mouth.

"Yes." My eyes traveled back to hers to find them glassy with lust. If I couldn't feel it rolling off her, or smell it rising between us, with that one look into her eyes, I would've known her body was alight with it.

"Will you try it with me?" she murmured and swiveled her hips. My cock was hard and sat between her ass cheeks and I bit my lip when she gave him a little friction.

My whole body stiffened. What was she asking? When I'd done things like that it was out of boredom and to test my gift to see how far I could push it. Yeah, I watched, I'd even gotten off on it. But what was she asking me exactly?

"Why?" my question was a bark and she was suddenly shy. I felt bad.

She broke eye contact this time and then I felt her determination as she slid her eyes back to hold mine, "To be honest, I like watching. Knowing you've used your gift to do the same… I want to share that with you."

I felt the hurricane of emotions roll through me at once. Her eyes were hopeful as she held her breath waiting for me to answer her request.

I was on fire. She wanted me to use my gift to influence people to have sex so we could watch them? How fucking hot was that? I knew I shouldn't be excited or maybe I should be horrified but all it did was make my cock twitch. Fuck, I was a sick fuck.

I felt her mischievousness as her eyes warmed with possibilities and I was even more surprised. She didn't reprimand me for fucking with others and I was floored. I couldn't get a grip on what I was feeling.

She was being so playful; maybe she wasn't serious, "Why?"

It seemed to be the only question I could manage out of my mouth from my half riddled brain.

"If you don't want to, it's ok. I was-" she began to doubt what both of us were feeling and that pissed me off.

"No," I cut her off shaking my head, "I'm shocked," and then I couldn't help it, I smiled from ear to ear, "I never expected you to do something like that. Or want to do that with me."

"Well… shit. I'm around preternatural all day long. Back at the Fort Peter and Charlotte are known for their… less than modest ways. They don't care if they get caught." She huffed. Hot damn she was as much of a pervert as I was.

I knew my eyebrows shot into my forehead, "You've watched them have sex?"

She ducked her head a little and shrugged a shoulder, "It's not like they hide from anyone, and it's not just them." her last sentence was muffed behind her hand.

All I could think was 'my little sexy vixen.' Was it so wrong to be so turned on my mate was a voyeur?

I lifted her chin so she would look at me, "You are just full of surprises," I chuckled when she huffed at me.

"So will you or won't you?" she said sharply.

I couldn't help it, I was full of curiosity all of my own now at this unassuming creature on top of me. She was wild and feral when we had sex, but there was still innocence about her in the real world, or the supernatural world, that you would never guess the wonders that lay inside her mind. Not in the sense of being naïve, and not one of a prude, I didn't know how to explain it. I wondered if she would go through with it. It was one thing to watch others having sex when you knew no one knew you were doing it. It was a whole other ball game to do it with someone else.

Then I wondered if I could go through with it. I'd never shared the experience with anyone else before. Alice seeing me doing it didn't count. She thought I'd been a barbarian and sick fuck. Not that I cared too much. It never stopped me from doing it. Besides I had to get my jollies from somewhere, Alice was a dud in bed. But to do it with someone else there? Looking up into her eyes, I knew I could and somehow I knew she could to.

"I will." The thrill at my words went through both of us. She slid down on my cock at my words and I fucking nearly came at the feel of her around my hard twitching length and the charged atmosphere. I bit my lip to keep from yelling out and arched up burying myself in her.

It didn't take us long before both of us were flying over the edge.

When she collapsed on me once again I couldn't help but chuckle. What a trip this was with her. I couldn't believe I felt like I knew her so well and for so long when in reality I knew her only two weeks and knew very little.

I was still struggling with some of the revelations around us, but it seemed to come so naturally. With my ability to think in many parallels, especially with the human diet, I was able to keep up, but just barely. I was in a wonderland of Isabella and her world and I couldn't get out of it if I tried.

Not that I wanted to.

I flipped us over, never leaving her body and rested between her legs. She smiled up at me and closed her eyes.

Fuck she was so beautiful. Scars and all. I leaned on my elbows and just watched her.

I felt stronger and surer of myself than I ever had before and I was closer to finding that balance within myself that had always eluded me. It felt like my life had been one extreme or another. Fighting in the Southern Wars I was an animal. I held little emotion. I fed off the fear and depravity of it all. I let Maria have control of me because I couldn't control myself. I let her lead because for me to lead would have ended in everyone's death.

Then with the Cullen's I went to the other extreme. I let Alice guide me because I was so far out of my element I didn't know what else to do. It took every ounce of will to stick to the animal diet only slipping a few times. For my past and me that was pretty fucking impressive, if I let myself believe that. Since it took so much for me to control that aspect, I once again had let someone else control other aspects because at the end of the day, I just didn't have the energy to argue or fight. I didn't have enough ambition to do otherwise. I had loved both Maria and Alice for that control they took for me. Talk about fucked up.

They had made me completely reliant on them.

But it wasn't control they'd given me, was it? I let a huge breath out as I realization dawned in me. They took that control. I let them. They both had in similar ways taken my free will. I'd let them thinking I had no other choice. I had loved them for controlling me. I thought I needed them to control and manhandle me because I didn't have the strength to do it myself. But the catch was they made me weak so I HAD to rely on them.

Epiphany.

Shit and it only took me over a century and a half to realize that.

"What's wrong, cowboy?" Isabella opened her eyes gazing at me with concern at yet another shift in my internal bantering.

"You don't control me." a simple statement speaking volumes.

Her slow smile was so beautiful and she let out a little chuckle, "No, cowboy. I don't want or need to control you. You do just fine on your own." Her voice was teasing but not condescending and I loved her more for going along with the flow of conversation although it came out of the blue and I'm sure was confusing as fuck.

"When I was with Maria, all my efforts were in the Newborns and trying to control the rage, the fear, the evilness of it all. I spent everything I had to keep myself above water and not completely lose my humanity. Something always clung to my humanity inside me. Maybe the monster in me, my panther," I whispered the last word. I'd never talked to anyone about it. It felt odd to openly do so now, "I was more powerful than Maria, but I never tried to leave because I didn't know any different. I didn't know how to live without someone telling me what to do and taking care of all the other shit I couldn't. I thought my life would always be like that. Always on the edge of losing everything to Beast, so I let Maria organize decisions I had no time for.

Then Peter and Char showed up and every instinct told me to go with them, so I ran.

Alice. Alice came into my life and filled the role that Maria previously held. I was put in yet another situation where I had to maintain my control and let I Alice take advantage of my weaknesses."

Isabella's eyes were black. I could feel her anger and pain for me. I gripped both sides of her face, "This is the first time in my existence that I have control. Of **every** aspect. There's no extreme. I'm whole for the first time in my existence." I laughed, "You don't control me."

Isabella looked at me with so much dedication, acceptance and happiness that it stunned me.  
"I never will Cowboy." And I knew she wouldn't. I knew no matter what, she would find a way for me to always have free will. She would make me make my own decisions one way or another. She'd make me stand on my own two feet instead of relying on her for anything.

Not that she would leave me hanging if I needed her. But for the first time ever, I was an equal in a relationship.

Epiphany. Truly it was. Then I asked her something I had never asked anyone. The last time the other person had TOLD me we were doing it.

"Marry me." It just fell out my mouth, but as soon as it did I couldn't have wanted anything else in the world than the woman in my arms to have me for eternity. I wanted a ring on her finger, call me old fashioned, but I wanted the human symbol on her to mark her as mine.

Then I realized my cock was still deep inside her and I'd just proposed naked lying on top of her.

Oh shit.

What a moron. I had a small bought of panic before I looked at the goofy grin on her face and my remorse quickly dissipated. Somehow it was so us. I knew I had a matching grin on my own face.  
"Sorry," Although I wasn't sorry at all, I did try to make an attempt at being gentlemanly, "I should have done this without my cock-"

She burst out laughing, "It was perfect. You are perfect. YES, YES, YES. I will marry you!" And we were kissing and frantically groping again.

I will never live this down. We had just got done talking about being voyeurs together, my cock was in her, and I had proposed.

Holy fuck. Bat shit crazy.

Before we could do anything further, both our cell phones went off.

I groaned, pulling away from my vixen's mouth. My fiancé's mouth. Someone had perfect timing. Jesus on a biscuit. I knew we had to answer them, there was too much that could go wrong if we didn't respond.

We very reluctantly untangled ourselves. Searching for my ripped to shit jeans I opened the cell out and shook my head. Why was I not surprised?

Peter.

_**'Get your ass back here, pronto. Everyone's waitin' on the bride and groom.'**_

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

We stood in the hanger back at the airport and everyone was there. I stood with Peter at the end of the aisles of preternatural, waiting for my mate to walk down the isle. I swear my heart beat for a moment at the mere thought. Peter patted me on the shoulder with a shit-eating grin. I grinned back.

Somehow the fucker had been arranging and preparing for our wedding from the moment Isabella and I had left.

Behind me on the wall, were the monitor screens from both jets set up with wires running all over the place. Mac's team was displayed in one, looking bright and chipper as they paid attention to us in the hangar and working at the same time. The other screen was in a very crowded rec room with the rest of the sentry at the Fort. I couldn't even tell how many were stacked in there practically on top of each other, trying to get a look at this event.

When we got back Peter and Char had ushered us into separate jets. Peter gave me a pair of black slacks and a maroon dress shirt, black cowboy boots buffed to perfection, and a black cowboy hat. He told me not to complain, he said it was either this or Mexican ensemble with a poncho and sombrero. Nothing else was open in town to get something better on such short notice with the sun out. I wasn't sure I believed him.

I didn't complain. No way was I wearing a poncho or sombrero.

Edward stood diagonally and behind Peter and he gave me a sincere smile. He'd been in the jet when I was getting ready and approached me gingerly. I had felt sorry for him in that moment, but he'd put my unease to rest quickly when he congratulated me. The only underlying feeling I got from him was the longing he seemed to have. He told me he couldn't be happier for Isabella and I, and apologized for the past. I couldn't find it in me to be angry with him any longer. I would never be happy about the feelings of lust and desire he threw toward my mate at times, but I couldn't blame the guy. He had thought she was his. He'd been lied to as I had.

I couldn't imagine being told that Isabella wasn't mine. I couldn't imagine giving her up no matter the reason.

I couldn't.

Edward being able to walk away, though I couldn't agree with how he did it, he had done it to try to save Isabella. I was unable to condemn him for the effort. I wasn't going to rub his face in the choice. Alice had taken something from all of us with her just being in our lives. She'd fucked with all of us and I wasn't one to judge. Because reality was, I had walked away, too. I had fought my pull to Isabella and I could have done things differently. It was time to put it all to rest.

"Are you nervous?" Peter asked bringing me back into the present.

"I didn't think I would be, but yeah man, I am." I told him honestly.

"Here look at this, you guys can buy something else later that's more personal, but you needed something now," Peter pulled a thick gold band out of his pocket. I took the delicate band from him and studied it. It looked like Celtic knots of some sort wrapped intricately around each other to form the ring. I was a bit stunned. It wasn't really us, but somehow it was. It was quite beautiful. I looked up to Peter and tried to clear the sudden lump in my throat for my longest and dearest friend. I hadn't even thought about a ring since Peter's text.

"Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it," His voice was just as ragged as mine, "I know you've been married before," he murmured for my ears only, "but this time is for eternity, don't fuck it up."

"I don't plan on it brother." And I meant it. There was nothing in the world I wouldn't do for the woman who was now coming down the jet stairs as music from somewhere started.

Peter snatched the ring out of my hand and turned to the woman coming down the isle first. Char floated down the isle of vampires, dhampirs and ghouls as she had eyes only for Peter. She had on a pretty maroon sundress with darker blue flowers on it. She looked pretty. I leaned forward straining to get a glimpse of my mate. I saw Char smirk out of the corner of my eye but I didn't flinch at being caught trying to look for the woman I loved.

Then… there she was. She was a vision. I smiled wide and I knew for a fact my dead heart stuttered. The energy that passed between us when our eyes met was so charged it could have made the room ignite.

She wore her hair up in a wild intricate tangle of loops and thin tiny braids. Her sundress was white with dark maroon patterns that flowed fluently in curves and swirls in several places. The bust was low and came together with dark maroon ties laced up the front of her breasts. She carried a bouquet of wildflowers.

She was beautiful.

I clasped my hands in front of my now bulging crotch as I felt my pants tighten, trying to hide my predicament when my lust shot up. I heard Peter chuckle and knew I hadn't been as stealthy as I had hoped. But I didn't care.

Nevell stood on my right behind a pulpit that I hadn't asked nor did I want to know where they had gotten it. Truly I thought it looked out of place in this setting, but I wasn't going to complain. They'd worked hard to throw this together in a few short hours.

Isabella finally made it to me and stood staring back at me. Through the bond all I could feel was love and devotion. She smelled so damn good, wildflowers, leather, lace and the feminine spice that was all her own. Her eyes never left mine. I knew Major was looking through my eyes as Monstress was peering out of hers. He purred at the sight of the shadow in her eyes.

"_Ouuurrrrr Maatttte_." Major proclaimed, whispering in my mind. He didn't ever say much. Hearing him was a little startling.

"_Absolutely ours_," I agreed growling with him.

I was lost in the swirl of emotions coming from everyone, but especially Isabella. Her eyes danced and shone so bright I was enchanted in their depths. Her smile lit her face and I returned it with one of own automatically.

She giggled. That sound wrapped around me and filled me with joy.

I felt Peter lean into my shoulder and I was about to get annoyed but his words brought me out of my haze, "Are you going to say your vows?" I mentally shook myself and looked at Nevell. I heard snickers in the background but didn't care.

He had an amused smirk on his face, I hadn't even realized he'd been speaking, "Do you have personal vows or would you like me to –"

"No, I'd like to say my own." He grinned and motioned to me to go ahead.

I turned to Isabella again and tried my damndest to keep my wits this time.

"I've never before felt the power of having a true mate," fuck my voice sounded breathy. I tried to clear the venom from my throat and start again, "You whirled into my life when you were human, and you haven't left my thoughts or my heart since. Even when I thought you were… when I thought I would never be able to see you again, you were still there. You crawled into my heart and there you have stayed. You have warmed my life and filled me with freedom and hope for the first time I can ever remember. Isabella, you have enraptured me, captivated me, and I am yours for eternity." Peter slipped the ring into my hand and shakily took it and found I was still trembling slightly when I slipped it onto Isabella's finger, "This ring symbolizes my devotion and my love for you Isabella. My darkness has turned to light in your presence. I pledge before this assembly of our friends and family to be your husband and your mate for today, tomorrow and all of eternity."

Isabella squeezed my hands after the ring was in place, I looked up and there were tears that would never fall in her eyes. But she smiled radiantly as she began to speak. "When I woke up to this life, you were the first image I saw even though I didn't remember who you were to me, I knew I loved you instantly and insanely. I knew you were mine without a shadow of a doubt. I have spent almost eighteen years trying to find my way to you, and now that I have you, I will never let you go. You are my everything, Cowboy. I promise I will treasure the gift of your love and return it every day for eternity." Char gave her the ring when she asked for it and then turned back to me. Her voice trembled with emotion when she spoke again, but it was strong and solid, "This ring symbolizes my devotion and my love for you, Jasper. I pledge before this assembly of our friends and family to be your wife and your mate for today, tomorrow and all of eternity."

The ring she slipped on my finger was of identical design to the one I gave her, but much wider and definitely more masculine.

Nevell stopped my forward motion to kiss my wife and then I realized the ceremony wasn't over. By the sheepish look on Isabella's face she didn't realize either.

"In the years of eternity which shall bring Jasper Whitlock and Isabella Whitlock into a greater age and wisdom, we hope that their love shall be forever young; that they will weather moments of despair and rejoice in the good times. In this hope, may they keep the vows made on this day, in freedom, teaching each other who they are, what they shall be, enabling them to know that, in the fullness of being, they are more than themselves and more than each other. They are all of us, and that together we share joyously the fruits of life on this earth, our home.

I present to you, as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, you may _now_ kiss the bride." Nevell snickered.

I didn't have to be told twice and I was already kissing my wife before the words finished leaving his mouth.

The hanger erupted in cheers as I lifted Isabella off the ground never breaking my lips from hers and began to walk down the aisle. She wrapped her legs around me and kissed me back just as thoroughly.

Peter stopped us with a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, you can't leave just yet, we haven't had the reception!"

He turned and raised his hands and the hanger suddenly filled with music.

I broke my lips from Izzy's and laughed.

I don't remember being this happy.

EVER.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**WOW.**

**This chapter came out of nowhere. That's what I get for listening to Jasper and giving in to his demands to be heard. I just can't ignore the man. Would you?**

**He's going to be around for a bit. Izzy and he are going to be taking turns, I think. **

**REC: Losing My Religion ~by arwen01 ~ Jasper/ Bella fic ~ So GOOD!**

**See you guys next week. **

**OH! Thanks for pushing me over 500 reviews. I can't believe it! **

**Thank you!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N**

**Thank you LetsJustDance~ and Bripearl~ my betas they make this possible to read.**

**Thank you to all that reviewed the last chapter... you all seemed to really like that they got married. Me too.**

**Now we're right back to crazytown. JPOV is going to stick around for a little bit. **

**So let's get on with it shall we?**

_**Previously;**_

_I present to you, as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, you may now kiss the bride." Nevell snickered._

_I didn't have to be told twice and I was already kissing my wife before the words finished leaving his mouth._

_The hanger erupted in cheers as I lifted Isabella off the ground never breaking my lips from hers and began to walk down the aisle. She wrapped her legs around me and kissed me back just as thoroughly._

_Peter stopped us with a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, you can't leave just yet, we haven't had the reception!"_

_He turned and raised his hands and the hanger suddenly filled with music._

_I broke my lips from Izzy's and laughed._

_I don't remember being this happy._

_**EVER.**_

**~I AM YOUR MASTER ~**

**~JPOV~**

It was around five o'clock when Rucker called me and asked me to give him a lift. He was on the edge of town and couldn't come any further due to the sun. Our impromptu reception was cut short and Izzy opted to stay, telling me to go with Peter. She stayed behind to take care of shit and prepare for the upcoming meeting of our sentry and the Southern meeting in the dry lakebed.

Peter and I climbed in the dark-tinted windowed SUV and took off South, watching Izzy in the side mirror until I could no longer see her. My chest squeezed at being away from her. It's ironic that we get married and we're separated for the first time within two weeks. I felt the mating bond give a tug and knew, somehow, she was thinking the same thing.

"So, you're a married man, how does it feel?" Peter asked.

"Like it's the first time I've ever known happiness." I say quietly not even trying to hide the grin on my face.

Peter took his eyes off the road to give me a good look. The grin on my face that wouldn't disappear was all the evidence he needed but I gave him a big dose of the euphoria I was feeling to prove my point and he laughed.

"Wow. I never thought you'd ever wipe that pensive ass look off your face. I can't say I miss that look on you, brother."

I nodded, "I can't say I'm not relieved it's gone."

"Sorry 'bout the honeymoon. Char and I've got you both somethin', but you'll have to wait for shit to simmer down a bit."

"It's ok. You didn't have to get us anything. I feel bad I didn't give Isabella a better wedding."

"Ya didn't. Me and Char gave that. Don't complain it was the best we could do on short notice."

"I wasn't complaining, per se-"

"Yes ya were, and ya didn't see anyone, especially Izzy, complainin', did ya'?"

"Well no, it's not that."

"So, shut up." and he reached over and punched my arm.

"Now, on to other shit, what do you think's goin' to happen' tonight?" He changed topics quickly.

"A lot of peacocks in one place could only lead to one thing." I said grimly coming down off my high. Thinking about tonight wasn't top on the list, but inevitable.

"Yeah, that's my thought, too. You know you can't kill anyone tonight right?" Peter asked.

"I'll do what I have to, Peter." I made no promises. Too much was on the line, anything could happen.

"If they challenge you, you can't kill 'em," he reiterated solemnly.

"I'll have no choice but to kill someone if they challenge me." I gritted out. I didn't understand where he was going with this. I would have to kill if I was challenged. If I didn't I'd be seen as a fucking pussy, it would show a weakness in our armor. If I lay down and took it, our lives would be at stake. There was no way I would tolerate the threat.

"No. Incapacitate them, sit on 'em do whatever, tie 'em up, just don't burn 'em. Think about it, man, if you kill any of those fuckers tonight, the fightin' lust could go bonkers and start a windfall we won't be walkin' away from unscathed. Showin' your prowess, as a fighter will let them know you aren't to be fucked with, lettin' 'em live long enough to tell others will save you from bein' a mouth jockey. Word a mouth and all that." He gave himself a nod. I took in his words and mulled them over.

I hadn't thought about that. When you put a group of strange vampires together the end result can get a little hairy. I'd never been in a group of mature, fully trained vampires until two weeks ago. They'd always been newborns, never over two years old. The ones that were coming now were seasoned vamps. Rucker's bar had been laid back and non-threatening. I wondered how he did that. There had to be new vamps and dhamps, even ghouls and shapeshifters coming and going in a bar, yet the place wasn't in shambles despite the rumors it was a rough and tumble, no-nonsense, kind of place. There wasn't evidence there was ever in any kind of chaos at all.

Isabella's sentry and her group, _our_ group, were pretty mellow as well. I didn't feel any hostility in the group toward each other. Yeah, there was jealousy, envy, and whatever, but not hostility, any true fear, or even malicious feelings directed at each other.

Put those same people in a situation like we were going into tonight, virtual strangers, and I could see where shit could go wrong real fast. We would all be 'peacocking' a bit. Male vampires were the worst when it came to peeing on their territory. We were taking over someone else's territory, governing, and trying to do it non-aggressively. That in itself could be considered weak.

Yeah the people coming tonight would be looking for weaknesses. We had a lot of sentry down here, but not as many as one would think there would be when trying to take over a hostile territory. We'd have to appear larger than we had means tonight.

I grudgingly could see where Peter was coming from. Ramanda's bar flashed in my mind and how that went bad so fast. It could get ugly tonight. Real ugly. It all depended on the mindset of our guests tonight.

I was suddenly glad now that Rucker called for a ride. I needed to know the players that were coming tonight. If anyone could give me some idea what we were walking into, it would be him.

**~Izzy POV~**

Peter and Jasper left, and my chest gave a little bump making Monstress grumble. It was the first time Jasper and I weren't attached at the hip since that day in the Command room. That seemed an eon ago. It had been two weeks. Two weeks of roller coaster activity and emotions. I half expected him to take off running at any moment saying it wasn't worth it. That old Bella persona crept up on me sometimes and left doubts in my head.

Instead the mad man had asked me to marry him…buried balls deep at the time. Maybe he was just as crazy as I was.

I was married. Ironic the moment we get married we get separated.

Married.

I was married. My face split into a goofy cheesy grin. I was married to Major Jasper Whitlock, cowboy, mercenary extraordinaire.

I was Mrs. Jasper Whitlock.

How did that all happen again?

Oh yeah, Peter and Char.

Jasper had asked, after we got the texts, if this is what I wanted. He said we could hold off, there was nothing saying we had to get married just because Peter's 'Peter-meter' went off. It only took two seconds to know I wanted it now. I'd never really imagined myself being a married woman. I'd had other things on my mind since I'd woken up and from the little I remembered of my human years, I hadn't thought much about it then, either. It was something that was never on my radar really until Jasper asked me.

Then I couldn't wait. Just the look on Jasper's face when he asked me drove me to finish entwining our lives. He wanted it too. And I would give him anything.

I didn't need a church. I didn't need a white dress with a veil. I didn't need anything but my family and friends and of course Jasper.

It was something we'd never forget.

Especially the way he'd proposed and the setting he'd done it in. I snickered remembering the slight panic that crossed his face when he realized he'd actually proposed marriage while buried deep inside me.

It was just so us, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Nothing was simple, but everything was from the heart and spur of the moment.

With the impending fuckery ahead of us, I couldn't imagine it any other way.

I leaned against the jet's door watching our sentry wander around the hanger talking and gearing up. My eyes traveled over all of them and it was amazing to me that I knew each and every single one of them and how they came to be here. I was proud to be a part of this group of creatures. We all had a common goal, which brought us altogether in the first place, but it wasn't what kept us together in the end.

We were family.

Maybe it was just me who felt that way. It seemed I was getting sentimental in my young age. It helped that I was flying high from claiming my mate in a human tradition. This group, along with all of our people, was such a huge part of me. I had learned from these people. I had fought next to them. Loved and lost with them. Each one was unique and contributed to our cause, and life, in their way. I cared about all of them.

Our lives were intertwined and linked in magic. There wasn't one person here today that I would second-guess having my back and in turn me having theirs.

Nevell glided up beside me sticking his head out of the door. He leaned on the opposite side of the doorframe, taking it all in.

"What's got that pretty head a yours goin'?" Nevell knew me well. If I wasn't on the move I was reminiscing and trying to catch up with myself. I was plotting, hashing, and regrouping. But on the surface it looked like I was taking a time out. I was most dangerous when I was standing still. My mind had been racing through scenarios underneath my euphoria and Nevell knew it.

"Same ol' same ol'. Stopping the spin for a minute is all." I told him softly, trying to keep our conversation mostly to ourselves.

He snorted believing only half the lie. "How's it feel to be married to the Major?" Nevell snickered.

I couldn't help the smile spreading across my face even if I tried. "Good. It's REALLY good. How 'bout you and Edward?" I whispered as my eyes traveled the hanger and groups landing on Edward who was talking to a couple of vampires in the corner. He was animated waving his hands around telling them some kind of story. The odd thing? They were laughing with him. He actually looked at ease.

"He's adjusting better than I thought he would." Nevell said thoughtfully.

"Really?" I asked incredulously remembering Edward's little mishap a few days ago.

"Yeah," Nevell said snickering, "He had that one incident at the bar, but it's been ok since. I can only imagine what it was like for him today. He's still struggling with everything, but ya, gotta give him credit."

"Yeah. Jasper said Edward talked to him before the ceremony. He said he seemed a lot better than he expected him to be."

"Eh, I think he truly feels remorseful about the shit that went down. Alice really did a number on all of them." He shook his head, "It still baffles me that none of them talked to each other, ya' know? It woulda saved all of 'em a lot of heartache."

"Yeah, hindsight's 20/20. We know all about that. It's good he's moving on. He came up to me after the ceremony, congratulated me, and apologized again. It stunned me a little. It will take some getting used to, seeing this side of him. What happened in the bar?" I was so curious. The Edward I knew was a prude. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around Edward being a player of sorts.

Nevell sighed and shook his head again but I could see the smirk on his face, "Let's tell it like this, you know Edward had a human blood diet before. His monster controlled him, with no guidance from his sire on how to try to control it. Carlisle just let him go out in the world without any preamble. With Edward's gift he could read thoughts and he fought with his inner demons, hormones, desires, and bloodlust for those years he was gone from his family. By reading minds he could play God thinking he could never get caught. You know our inner monster doesn't have a conscious. Not like you Monstress," Nevell whispered as is if he was talking to her and then normally he said, "but the _real_ monster."

Monstress growled good-naturedly at him within me and I smiled. She liked Nevell.

"Our inner beasts." I said as I thought about my conversation with Jasper earlier at the hotel.

"Yeah. When he went off on his own and started indulging in human blood, he never tried to tame it. He didn't know how. He didn't want to. He just let it have reign over his life and his actions. Until he had a wake up call from Alice, of course, and she convinced him to go back to animal blood. Going in that bar was the first time he'd been around humans since taking human blood again, and his monster let him know he was still there and willing to lead him down a path of blood and pussy."

"He didn't kill anyone did he?"

"No, but he was fixin' to. I went off to talk to the bartender and Eddie boy went to chat up some human brunette. It didn't take long to get her all aroused with using his gift to know how to maneuver her. You can imagine what her vampire husband thought of that."

"Shit. How could he have not known that?"

"Bloody fool did, according to his testament after. He didn't care. She was willing. He played on her fantasies. Anyway, it's the typical shit. After we left he felt bad and I got him to talk about it. I gave him some advice, and he's been gnawing on it." Nevell shrugged.

"How's his gift doing? Can he read you better?"

"He could until I figured out how to block him. We talked about it while we traveled and played around with it a bit. I found I could pretty easily block him, put a shield up in my mind to keep him out."

"A shield? What do you mean?"

"It's not a gift. The other dhampirs with us could do it too. I think its just part of our DNA or something. Ghouls, he still can't read at all and if my kind tries hard enough we can block him by throwing up mental shields to keep him out. We slip up and he can hear us, it takes some getting used to. It was something to distract him from his instincts and helped him concentrate on something else. It gave him something to do. Like I said, he's never tried to work with his gift at all. Those ten or so years he spent by himself, he just gave into his instincts with no guidance.

"He knows how little his gift worked now against the Cullen's. How easy it was for everyone to block him out. He didn't like that." Nevell snorted, "Working with his gift and learning his boundaries will help him tame his monster a bit I think. So what happened down south?"

He changed the subject not so subtly and I let him. I told him quietly what happened. Then I told him what Rucker said about the pyro.

"You don't think he's dead?"

"No. We sent a team down to finish cleaning up and see what they could find out. When Rucker told us the theory, we told our guys to ask around specifically about Flame. A woman, Desree, confirmed the theory. We'd talked to her briefly before Mona went cavewoman. Desree told them after we left and the dust settled some guy pulled Flame out of the ash and took off with him. His clothes were burnt off, but he was still in two pieces. She wouldn't give us names or a direction. Our guys tried to pick up a scent trail but there wasn't enough of one."

"That's blimey bad luck." Nevell scowled.

"So I made another enemy to watch our backs for." I scoffed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Izzy. You didn't know. And even if you did, could you have really done much different?" He asked.

"We could have brought him back with us. Left his head separated." Yeah, I was a little whiny.

"Yeah, but you know it was getting boring around here. You were just making sure there was excitement."

I snickered and pushed him, "It's not funny."

"It bloody is." He insisted. I knew better and so did he, but his lightness eased me if just for a moment.

"How do you think this meeting is going to go?" I asked.

"I don't know. I don't think we'll get away without at least one fight. Maybe not, it depends on how many they bring. If they openly challenge one of us to a fair fight, we'll have to take it. We can't believe we're the only ones lookin' to take over down here. I think if anyone actually gets challenged, it'll be Major."

"That's what I think to." And I went on to tell him a little about what Jasper and I decided in the hotel room.

"The Major's ok with that?" he asked.

"Yeah, as much as can be expected. It's inevitable. He knows it's only the beginning. He says he knew that goin' in."

"He's a good man, Izzy." Nevell told me quietly and I knew he was saying more.

"I love him with everything." I murmured.

"Good. Make him treat you right. Don't let him push you around." He growled at the end.

I laughed, "He would tell you I'm the one doing the pushing."

"Good." Nevell nodded to himself and let it go. He was so protective.

"You think Maria will show up tonight?" I was the one to change the course of conversation this time.

"No."

"Really?" I didn't think so either but I wanted to know why he thought so.

"Besides what Peter says, even though his gift is wonky, it's never been wrong. Think about it, Izzy. Do you really think she didn't tell anyone about Alice's death? Other than calling us to let us know she'd seen her taken? I don't buy it. Not the group she's connected to. She would be on the phone yellin' it. Do you think whoever Alice was involved with, and we know most of the players, would have let her make the situation worse and risk being exposed? Maria is a loose cannon. She wouldn't have been left to it without someone stepping into Alice's shoes to keep her under control. When they removed her it was proof of that."

"Want to know what I think?"

"Always." He snickered. "I never have a choice anyway," I slapped his arm.

"I think she told them like you said. They had to take her out knowing we were gunning for her. I think this is all leading to the Games. Like Peter said it's going to be soon. A huge group of those giants are on the move. The ghouls are waking up and we wouldn't be stupid enough to believe it's the only place they're waking up at. We have to assume Huilen's ghouls are waking up, too. Too many things are happening at once. All this activity must be leading to the Games. I think someone came to get Maria for some reason. I keep waiting for our Fortress to get hit. I think I've driven Mac out of his mind by warning him to keep everyone on their toes."

Nevell was quiet, "That would make sense. They aren't going to stop the Games just because we raise a threat. I know what you mean about Maria, too. She's up to something."

"These Games have been planned far in advance. They've gotten away with it for centuries. They aren't going to stop for us. They won't think we know. I can't believe they aren't looking for us, though, and I think that's where Maria comes into play. Jasper and I talked briefly about this. It could go one of two ways. Either they're looking for us or they're waiting for us to come to them. Either way, they know about us."

"Or both."

"True. They do have the past seer. They'll know our moves, but only after they happen. That gives us a couple days of a head start at least. But it also leaves us vulnerable. I don't know. Maybe they were looking for us before we got Jasper and took Alice. Maybe Maria went off the deep end when she realized we took them and she diverted from some plan THEY already in place."

I had never thought of that. If people down here knew of me, knew of our group, then they could have been gunning for us before all this happened and we had thrown a wrench into their plans. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that the Cullen's took up residence so close to us.

Then we took care of business and Maria freaked and attacked before she was supposed to. That would make sense. Someone didn't let her though, did they? They either took her away for her own safety or they were planning for her to attack us when we were separated.

I took a deep breath letting it out slowly trying to slow down my thoughts. I told Nevell what I was thinking.

"It's never easy is it?" I said when I finished.

"No. Fighting for the Greater Good never is."

**~JPOV~**

We stood facing a semi-circle of vampires, dhampirs, ghouls and shapeshifters if my nose wasn't misleading me. There were seventy-three in total, a hell of a lot more than we'd anticipated. Their feelings of apprehension and anticipation were making me a bit hesitant and dizzy. Our group stood in a similar stance watching them. No one had spoken yet and I guess that left it up to me to begin.

Rucker had come early to warn me that whole covens were coming, not just leaders as we asked. They were scared that if I _was_ the Major, they'd be walking into a trap. I couldn't blame them, what better way to take over the South than to ask all the leaders to come into one place and take them out all at once. So, they had brought back-up. I snickered along with Major at the thought of us being so feared. If they only knew we were really just a big ol' pussycat.

Major objected to the slight and my eyes traveled to our mate, well, we were a pussycat when it came to our Isabella anyway.

I turned my focus back to the beings in front of me and let my body fill with Major's presence. I let him fill my senses. I felt his fur roll against the inside of my skin as he surfaced causing me to flare my nostrils as we took in our surroundings. We were strategizing an escape route, scoping a way to protect our mate if shit went down. We sized up our opponents from weakest to strongest and back again. When we were ready I stepped forward and Isabella followed at my right elbow. She stood a pace behind me as my mate. Peter stood to her right and Nevell with Randal then Edward stood on my left. Randal had joined us at the last minute as he'd been out with our perimeter sentry making last minute adjustments because of the growing crowd.

"Thank you all for coming here on such short notice. As you all should know by now, I am Major Jasper Whitlock and this is my mate, and wife, Isabella Whitlock. Some of you may know of her by Izzy."

The emotions of the crowd amped up slightly with the confirmation of their fears.

"You ARE _the_ Major, then?" A man stepped forward engaging me first out of the crowd .

"Yes, and I've asked you all here for several reasons, one of which is to come to an understanding. We are not here to kill any of you. As you all know our world is changing and growing right before our eyes. Our existence is becoming more of a chore to hide from the human world. The number of humans who already know of our existence is rising on an alarming scale. Especially, if what I've seen in the last few days is any indication."

"I know for many of you my reputation as being Maria's henchman many decades ago precedes me. Most everyone has believed I was dead by Maria's hands. As you can see that is not the case. I left Maria's army to join the real world and get away from her. She's a sadistic bitch and I do not believe in her quests or her thinking. I do not share her ambition for dominance nor the horror that she spreads. I do not believe there is a method to her madness. She has controlled this part of Mexico for a couple of centuries with an iron will.

Her methods are barbaric and incomprehensible. It will no longer be tolerated. Maria has recently taken it upon herself to attack our organization personally with the help of her gifted. It will not go unpunished. She has been a thorn in the side of the preternatural community for far too long. As of now, her reign of power ends. She is a fugitive. She will be tracked and eliminated."

As I was speaking the crowd in front of me went from apprehension to awe to alarm back to apprehension and fear and back again. There was an abundance of disbelief and anger mixed in with excitement and shock.

"You realize that she's going to come to kill you right?" someone said.

"I'm counting on it." I told them.

The vampire who had spoken looked at me with incredulity so I elaborated; "She'd save us a whole lot of time and money if she'd just come out and face us head on."

"What makes you any better than her?" someone else asked.

"For one, I'm not a fucking sadist. I do not believe in everyday torture and putting fear into those that serve me. I can't think of one single thing that Maria and I have in common. Not one. My leadership, OUR leadership, will be with an iron fist, BUT…Instead of killing and torturing, we will target those who seek to harm others, who run their covens or organizations with barbaric and masochist tendencies. We will tear anyone apart for torture or taking one's will away from them."

"Is it true you burned up Ramanda?"

"Yes. It was not our intention, but she left us no choice in the matter. We merely cleaned up her establishment and fuck-up. Her way of running her brothel, by starving those who worked for her, and executing innocents, will not be tolerated. I understand the need for swift judgment and to take care of your own business, but abusing those who work for you is incomprehensible. We offer our support to the covens that occupy this territory. But we will take out anyone who abuses their right to lead."

We will be cleaning up this region. We will be implementing the laws of our kind. We know there are many humans down here that know or suspect we exist. There's not much we can do about that but let it be known that, if any of us start showing up in the human news there will be repercussions. It is not our intention to come out to the humans. Keep this in mind while running your establishments. If word gets out the responsibility will ultimately fall on our heads," I let my hand indicate my side of the line being drawn in the sand, "Believe me, we take that responsibility very seriously. I'm not going to let one of my team be annihilated because of someone else's stupidity."

"You think you're strong enough to hold this territory?" another asked.

"I know I am. I know WE are," I gestured to my team beside and behind me again as I said this, "Let me make one more thing clear. I may be the representative here before you, but the people behind me are the ones who have worked their asses off to prove that they should be here. As you know my mate," I turned to Isabella and waved her forward she stepped up flush with me, "Isabella. To her right is my good friend and brother Peter and my sister, Peter's mate, Charlotte. Peter, Charlotte and I all served with Maria." That got their attention.

"You mean to tell me the fucking three of you fought with Maria?" the crowd's emotions went into true turmoil at that thought.

"Yes. Peter and Charlotte escaped Maria before I did, many, many years ago." They didn't need more fucking detail than that. I waved a hand at Nevell and Randall, "Randal is second in command of the Ghoul nation. Benjamin could not be here and we are fortunate enough to have Randal in his stead. To my left is the leader of dhampirs, some of you may already know him," I turned to Nevell and he stepped forward as the others had, "Nevell."

Emotions rocketed toward me as the crowd before us digested this. We were bombarded with questions in such a rush I only picked up about half of them. Raising my hands I demanded silence.

"One at time, please." Nevell told them.

"What makes you the leader of dhampirs?" a short stocky dhampir stepped forward and addressed Nevell directly.

"Well," Nevell said slowly and he looked over to Isabella. They stood silently communicating for a moment. Isabella's emotions were nothing but supportive. I projected her emotions to Nevell. He glanced at me with a grateful smile before turning back to the questioner, "I was the first surviving dhampir ever made."

Shock, awe, and disbelief swept the crowd.

"Where's the proof? How can you prove that?"

"I don't need fecking proof. I was born a long time ago through many experiments done by two scientists in a lab in England. I was in those labs for a century before escaping. I've traveled this world and have connections beyond your imagination. I've organized and put together many safe houses you more than likely have already heard of. I'm no stranger to our world or our kind."

"No one's going to ask about me?"

"Everyone knows who Benjamin is. At least if you're a ghoul." Someone shouted.

I wondered why that was.

Randal looked disappointed no one challenged him. I managed to keep the snicker to myself. He should feel honored that he was already accepted.

"Who made you king shit?" A sinewy man stepped out of the crowd much to the horror of a few around him, and pointed a finger at me. Oh here we go. Do I smell a challenge? I was aching for one. With all this tension I was actually looking forward to this. Since I wasn't allowed to kill, it took the pressure and anxiety off. I was looking forward to a sparring match.

The tall blond came forward giving me the once over and giving off nothing but animosity and arrogance.

"What if we don't want you to be our leader?" His voice and emotions were completely challenging.

"Anyone has the right to challenge me if they wish. If you can beat me, you may do with the territory as you see fit, or not." I couldn't help but let a chuckle out.

"If we kill you then the rest of your pack will just kill us," he complained.

You're kidding me right? He was going to whine? After giving a challenge? Really? Dipshit.

"No. Not here anyway. If you kill me my mate will automatically challenge you. You know, as I'm sure as everyone does, it is instinct that drives us to vengeance.

"I challenge you then," he barked and ripped his red t-shirt off his body in a dramatic flourish.

The crowd spread out and gave us room keeping to some invisible line that separated us from them.

I stepped forward as my mate sent me love and support and I shot her a healthy dose of it back without turning around. I could feel the excitement running through her fueling my own. I felt high.

I pulled my own shirt off making a show not to rip it, and flung it behind me and stepped forward to meet my challenger.

I could easily take him down with sudden bolt of emotion but I refrained. My muscles tensed, bunched and readied themselves for a fight. I wanted to stretch my limbs out. I wanted to taste his venom. I wanted to hear him cry out. I needed the fuckers on both sides to see me in action. Using my gift would only get me so far. I wanted physical contact. I craved it.

Major peered out of my eyes to assess our opponent. He stood opposite of us in a crouch. I didn't crouch. I watched. Hands to my side, loose, my feet shoulder width a part.

I waited.

And waited.

We stared each other down, sizing up the opposition, waiting for the other to make the first move. I stood as though I had all the time in the world. I would not make the first move in a challenge. I wouldn't make the first move period.

He finally got tired of waiting and lunged. I easy sidestepped him, not even touching him merely turning with him as he landed a couple feet from me in his crouch.

He snarled and lunged again. This time I leapt over him and watched as he went flying under me.

I felt his rage spike and his frustration flow.

As I came down he surprised me by flipping around, trying to get behind me. I reached out and close-lined him across his throat. He choked and hacked, his esophagus collapsing, and he landed with a thud on his back. I jumped back, he was up just as quickly as he hit and came for me again.

He was sloppy. He stopped thinking and let his instincts take over. I was disappointed.

His arms outstretched for my neck, eyes on fire as his brain focused on one thing. Grabbing his arms, I quickly I leapt up and over him pulling his arms with me. Twisting mid-air I landed behind him with his now dislocated shoulders, his arms still in my grasp. He fell to his knees trying to relieve the pressure; his head hit the sand and his body slackened in supplication. I didn't pull down and finish the motion that would ultimately take off his arms.

Major spit and snarled waiting for the kill shot. I held him back.

Holding my opponent down as he panted and got a grip on his bearings I eased my hold. The pain coming from him was colossal and I had to give him credit, he didn't cry out in pain once.

"Do you concede?" I growled.

"Challenges are to death!" someone from the crowd yelled.

"Yes, I concede," The man whimpered.

Too easy.

What a fool.

"Not today," I said to the crowd, "In the future I will gladly kill anyone who comes after me, or one of mine. Today, I give you a freebie. I told you we did not come to kill anyone." I gave a tug on his arms and released him, giving him a large quantity of serenity. He grunted and sagged to the ground at my feet as I turned to face the crowd, "I am not here today to kill anyone. But I will take any challenge you may wish to give."

"What are you doing to him?" someone asked.

I looked down to the vampire who was now in the fetal position at my feet. I shook my head.

"He's fine, trust me. He's feeling no pain right now." Even though his shoulders were dislocated, he was practically sleeping. "This meeting is over, unless someone else wants to challenge."

I felt the emotions of the crowd. Most were in awe, but I could feel the hostility from some.

"I challenge you!" another man stepped forward and I smiled slowly as I walked back to the center, releasing my hold on the man on the ground, welcoming the menace I felt coming off my new challenger.

(+=+=+=+=+=+=)

In the end, only six vampires challenged me. No one gave a true fight and if I were human I doubt I would have broken a sweat. I had a feeling it wasn't about truly challenging me. It was testing my skill. Testing my gift. I didn't even use my gift until the end when they conceded, holding them prisoner until the next would step forward to issue his intent.

They didn't learn much, though, if they were smart, they should have learned enough. I wasn't someone to fuck with. It would take a lot more than weak challenges to take me down. Major was highly disappointed by the events. He'd expected a full blown outing this round. He grumbled inside my head and encouraged me to take advantage. We could take them all down one by one. All we had to do was taunt them into it. Make the numbers a little more even and then take them all out. As tempting as it was I held true to the promise not to kill or cause a riot.

That wasn't the point of being here and I reminded Major of that. These vampires weren't stupid. They tested our ranks, investigated our strength and then analyzed every move. I could feel it in some of their emotions. I took note of the more curious and more calculating of the herd and put it away for another day. There were a few who stayed on the fringes of the throng, taking notes of the activity.

I wasn't stupid either.

I was proud of Isabella. After the third challenge she seemed to come to the same conclusion as I did. These weren't real challenges. I felt her relax through our bond, which made me more relaxed. She stayed put, never attempting to come forward or use her gift to help. It would be interesting to get her take on the experience.

Four hours later the covens of preternatural began to disperse and leave. Some came to talk but most faded into the desert night. A lot of them wanted to know what we would do for them. Some wanted to complain about other covens. Then there were those who demanded to know how we would rule the area.

We answered all of them trying to put their minds at ease. There were two covens, one with 5 and one with 7 members who stood off to the side listening to it all. They were the same ones who had brought the most attention to me during the challenges. They were definitely ones to watch in the future. They never came forward to introduce themselves, and we didn't approach them for their acquaintances. We let them be, but I noticed that I wasn't the only one aware of them. Edward's head was tipped in their direction as he often did when he was 'listening'. Peter's eyes scanned them a couple of times. Isabella didn't seem to pay them any mind at all, but that's if you didn't know her. I could tell by her body language and position, that she was very aware of them…so was Char. Looking towards the rest of our group, I realized we all held the same pose. We were waiting for them to attack.

Who were they trying to kid? Maybe they wanted our attention. Maybe it was that they were the silent but deadly kind. Whatever it was they took their leave as the last of the attendees approached and introduced themselves. The two groups blended into the night as the desert swallowed them whole.

When everyone cleared out and the only ones left were our group Peter spoke what was on all our minds.

"That was disappointing to say the least." He sounded as glum as Major did.

"No shit," Nevell said. He'd been gunning for a fight just as much as Peter and I had it would seem.

"Well, now that's over. What do we do now?" Edward asked.

I turned to him, "What did you get from the ensemble here tonight? Anything good?"

"The last two groups off to the side were interesting. The others were disappointing. The two groups-"

Rucker interrupted Edward, "That would be Cezar and Agusto's covens. They are, how do you put it? Like the Hell's Angels down here. No one fucks with them and if they do, well, they don't get far. They are large in numbers and they are some to look forward to seeing in the future as well. They don't play by anyone's rules. They'll scout you out and then try to take you down."

"That's the impression I got as well," Edward agreed with Rucker, "They were constantly calculating and taking in any and all information of the events. They weren't impressed with the challenges and thought Jasper was…eh… thought he wasn't a very good advisary, but they did think he was holding back. One of them, Agusto, even thought of challenging to see just exactly what you were capable of."

"That's good. They don't need to know until it's too late if and when they decide to come after us. The less they know the less they'll be prepared." I nodded. Good that was exactly what I was going for. I didn't have to show them anything more than what was needed. If I showed them all my tricks, then I was fucked. As it was, they walked away with very little.

"Cezar just took in the show to prove that the rumors and legends were all hype," Edward went on, "His mind was aggressive in his thinking. He took your show as weakness. How is that good?" Edward snarled. For someone who could read minds he was stupid when it came to combat and military thinking. He let a growl rumble at my thoughts. What did he expect?

I chuckled at him, "It would have proven nothing to kill anyone here today. We, I, would have been no better than Maria if I would have slaughtered and put fear into those here. Yes, those two, Cezar and Agusto, will be forces to be reckoned with; however, they would have been no matter what. Those guys look for trouble. The less I showed today the better for us. The majority of the crowd wants peace. They were happy with the outcome. Cezar and Agusto will now think they have it easy to come for us. They would come for us anyway. Why show them what we're made of and make it easy for them?"

Edward shrugged looking away. Whatever. He would learn.

Rucker put names to faces as we stood analyzing further. I told them what I empathically felt and Edward finally relented that the majority of the crowd was impressed and their overall thoughts were one of hope.

We talked until the wee hours of the morning before we had to head back to the hangers.

"We need to scout and find a place to set up base camp," Izzy said right before we left. That gave us all pause. We couldn't hang out in the hanger forever.

"I can help with that," Rucker said, "If you want there is room in the mountains near me, or there are other mountainous ranges you could scout. If you would like I can provide a tour."

"That would be great, but wouldn't it get a little crowded in your place?" I asked.

"Crowded? Nah. I could feed your coven with booze and expand my business. I've wanted to expand for years, but had no real motivation to do it. Then I get the protection of the future Power that will take over Central America. Come take a good look and I will give you a personal tour if you want."

"I think we'll be heading back north for a bit, but we can send some people with you to check it out."

"As you like. The offer stands. It would be nice to have a true friend around." Rucker slapped my back. Peter pointed out four of our sentry and told them to go with Rucker. After farewells and promises to let him know what was going on, the five disappeared into the night.

I looked at Isabella tucked into my side and we had matching grins. We both had liked Rucker and his place of business. I think what Rucker said was true. It would be nice to have a friend and ally down here to help us along the way.

"We need to get back up north." Peter's eerily calm voice said and I turned to see him staring north. He was standing ramrod straight without twitching a muscle as vampires do when sensing danger.

"Trouble?"

"Could be." He said gravely.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**Thanks again for the reviews and thanks to all the people who continue to read.**

**Next chapter... don't know when it will be up... I'm only about halfway through it. It's summer and I'm easily distracted with work**

**and real life. It should be sometime next week. **

**Please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think!**

**;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N**

**Thank you to my Betas! As always they Rock! Bripearl and LetsJustDance keep me in line and keep me focused.**

**A Special Thanks to LetsJustDance ~ I know this week has been hard and surreal for her, but she helped get me get back on track and into focus anyway... I wouldn't know what to do without her.**

**Thanks for all the support your reviewers give each week! I look forward to your words and encouragement. I would have stopped writing long before now if it weren't for ya'll! Thanks for showing up and telling me what you think!**

_**Previously;**_

_"As you like. The offer stands. It would be nice to have a true friend around." Rucker slapped my back. Peter pointed out four of our sentry and told them to go with Rucker. After farewells and promises to let him know what was going on, the five disappeared into the night._

_I looked at Isabella tucked into my side and we had matching grins. We both had liked Rucker and his place of business. I think what Rucker said was true. It would be nice to have a friend and ally down here to help us along the way._

_"We need to get back up north." Peter's eerily calm voice said and I turned to see him staring north. He was standing ramrod straight without twitching a muscle as vampires do when sensing danger._

_"Trouble?"_

_"Could be," He said gravely._

**~THE BEAST IN ME~**

**~JPOV~**

The fastest verbal ping-pong match ever witnessed continued between Peter and my mate, much to the amusement and horror of the occupants of the jet.

They were throwing barbs back and forth faster than I could catch all the words they were spitting. This had been going on for a couple of hours now. I'm not even sure how it had started to be honest. But it sure as fuck was entertaining. We'd only been in the air when they began laying into each other.

Nevell and Char had rolled their eyes when it first started and sat back looking almost bored. Edward and I had looked on with complete and utter fascination.

Mac, who we'd talked to for the first couple hours of our flight when we'd boarded the jet, had turned off our side's audio feed on the monitor. He said it was distracting. As the fight escalated he'd eventually turned off the visual part of the monitor as well. Char had asked Mac to leave on the sound so we could at least hear their side and what was going on at home. Now Mac's place was quiet background buzz to the fiasco before us.

Peter and Isabella had ignored all of us and kept up their free for all verbal brawl.

Isabella's voice slowed and lashed at Peter with humor to whatever he'd said to her, "Really, Peter? Out of a million sperm YOU were the fastest? Tinkerbell's diaphragm, what the fuck's _wrong_ with you?" and then she laughed.

I couldn't even hear what Peter said in response. I smiled at the un-lady like guffaws coming out of Isabella's mouth as her head flew back and she leaned into me holding her stomach. She would never cease to amaze me as her hilarity filled my gift and I couldn't hold back my chuckles. Soon the entire jet was chortling as I projected and we released our laughter.

I was able to pull back the emotions when the jet suddenly jolted and I realized the pilots were being affected as well.

A few snickers here and there remained but for the most part the emotion drifted away slowly.

As it did, Isabella's original irritation at Peter came back.

"Peter, we have to separate. It's the only way we can cover all our bases." The calm force of her voice belied her true frustration at their once again resurfaced argument.

"We shouldn't separate now," He told her, restarting his side of the debate.

"Is this a feeling coming from the 'meter' or is this just how you feel about it?" She asked him.

He huffed at her, "It's what I think is best and it shouldn't matter if it comes from my senses or if it comes from knowledge and experience. You need to listen to me. If we separate we're more vulnerable. Look at what Maria did to our sentry! We can't let that happen again. If we separate then we run the risk of it ending just the same."

"For one, we now _know_ that our organization is under attack. We are aware of the risks. We're prepared for it to happen. Jasper and I can take some sentry with us to Mexico. We can't just take over a territory and then up and fuckin' leave. '_Oh, hey, we're here to take over, but if you have a problem with that, good luck in findin' us for anythin'. You're on your own, sorry 'bout that.'_ " Isabella's voice was thick with sarcasm lashing like ribbons across the cabin directed at her target, Peter. "Jasper and I can go help scout and be there to run interference and accept challenges when they come up. It's going to be detrimental if we don't answer to our proclaiming that we're in fucking charge! Some of us need to go back!"

"If you go back, you are unprotected!" Peter's voice rose in volume matching his increasing agitation.

"We'll take sentry with us." Isabella slapped the back of her hand into her other palm making her point in time with her words.

Peter snarled and pointed out, "That'll leave us shorthanded up north."

"Our Fortress in Canada, as you well know, can withstand a large attack with few people. It's well guarded and by no means ill equipped if and when it comes to any kind of attack. But we no longer need to be in Canada, we need to start moving our shit." She tried to reason.

I stayed out of it. At this point I agreed with Isabella. I wasn't sure why Peter was trying to get us all to stay in Canada. He said it wasn't anything to do with his intuition, but I had to wonder. He wasn't letting this go, but he wouldn't tell us a good reason why we should stay either. Maybe it was his intuition but he wouldn't admit it. I wasn't sure what his motivation was.

"Ok. The Fortress can withstand. But, Eleazar is goin' to be callin' sometime tomorrow or the next day with news on what he finds out from Liam. What if we have to leave right away? Then you guys are down South, we're in Canada, and it's just a big mess." Peter whined.

"Why are you fighting this so hard? We've been separated before and been able to function just fine. We can meet wherever we need to, when we need to. Is it that you want to go with us? Nevell and Edward can stay in Canada and be fine without the four of us if you want to go with us." Izzy sounded like she was tying to genuinely find out what Peter's problem was.

"That's not it." Peter bit out in a pout and shook his head.

"Then tell me what it is then. I'm not understanding this," Isabella threw her arms in the air as her frustration spiked again.

Peter scowled, "Ya'll didn't think about this very well," he deflected, "Where the fuck are we supposed to set up once we get down there? Out in the middle a' tha fuckin' desert? '_Hey, look at us, we sparkle like roman candles and we'll kick your arse! We're the dumbasses with no plan! Trust us, we'll protect ya_!'" His imitation of Isabella's voice was spot on and it was kinda scary.

"What else were we supposed to do? Huh?" Isabella shot back, "Leave the best opportunity there was to take over the South? We can't issue a challenge to Maria and then just walk away. It's too late now to take it back. What kinda' fucked up shit is that?" Her thighs tightened and tensed as she argued with Peter and I thought I was going to die. I watched her muscles through her jean clad thigh and bit down on my knuckle to keep from moaning. Where the hell did that come from? I was instantly hard as I watched her argue with Peter.

I heard someone let out a low, almost inaudible moan and shot a look to the left, catching Edward staring at Isabella. It was then that I realized my sudden overwhelming desire didn't come mainly from me but from him. I'd been worked up as it was for the last few hours with Izzy sitting on my lap squirming around arguing with Peter, but Edward's emotions for some reason weren't being kept under lock and key all of a sudden.

He looked over and gave me an insincere shrug of apology. I hissed, narrowing my eyes at him, and he seemed to get the message when I felt him trying to curb his arousal. I shook my head at him and turned back to Isabella and Peter still arguing.

At first I had tried to jump into the conversation, but was thwarted by their verbal sparring. No one I had ever seen could argue like the two of them, and I soon realized that I was out-classed by a mile. I'd never seen someone be able to put Peter in his place so quickly and defiantly. It appeared it wasn't the first time either.

The tension had finally overflowed from the both of them and they started butting heads about anything. Little things, big things, things that I had no clue about and things I didn't even want to know about. It had quickly bloomed to… I'm not sure what.

I didn't try to calm them down for several reasons. First and foremost, it wasn't me arguing with Peter for a change. It was nice to see someone stand up to him and put him in his place. For another, it was entertaining as fuck. But most of all, my Isabella was a whole new creature when she was heated and ready for blood, or venom in this case.

Hence my constant arousal for the past couple of hours. She was hot as fuck when mad.

Although, I could've used a reprieve from my poor dick being ground into my thigh by her ass, I grunted and sucked it up. I didn't want her to move off me and lose the contact, but I did reposition her a little so she wasn't directly on my best asset.

I caught Edward out of the corner of my eye and he was snickering at me. I flipped him off. He was starting to get on my last nerve. I should have let it go, because Izzy caught the action and whipped to Eddie boy with a new fire, cutting off whatever she was saying to Peter to address Edward without taking a breath.

"Do you have something to say? What the fuck are you snickering at?" she demanded.

Edward raised his hands, his eyes large as saucers as he shook his head quickly at her, not wanting to be the target of her ire.

"Don't make me throw you from this fucking jet you little donkey fucker." She snarled at him. His eyes got larger, knowing full well she could and would follow through with that threat, "Don't think I don't know you're irritating the fuck out of my mate, you watch it!" she warned jabbing a finger at him.

I suppressed my laughter and felt slightly vindicated for him laughing at my squashed dick and his earlier slip on his emotions where my mate was concerned.

Peter took the opportunity to take a dig at Isabella again, "You guys didn't think this shit through at all. I knew it. Jasper's dick has fucked you stupid."

Nevell put his head in his hands as his body shook with laughter, and Edward covered his mouth to muffle the guffaws. Char smacked the back of Peter's head.

How the hell did my dick all of sudden come into the conversation?

Isabella sat stiffly on my lap staring at Peter, her emotions running the gamut.

I was about to shake her to see if she was ok, when in my peripheral I saw vamp-ash bindings come spinning into the cabin from the back of the jet.

Peter, whose head was turned towards Char and facing the front of the jet, didn't turn around fast enough as the bindings found their way around Peter expertly. First his arms, which were resting on his thighs, were suddenly bound tightly together and then his mouth was wrapped securely, snapping his jaw shut.

The facial expression he threw at Isabella should have made her melt into a pool of venom. All she did was thrust her chin out and stare him down, daring him to defy her.

Not that he could have moved if he'd wanted to.

"We didn't get that far into planning, Peter. I understand your frustration. But do not call me stupid. You out of anyone should know better than to question my intelligence or anyone else's for that matter. Really, Peter? You would think you had a brain or something."

Peter's eyes grew black as he struggled to stand.

I sent him a large dose of lethargy, which just pissed him off further as his eyes connected with mine. I was no longer laughing, with his obvious intentions of coming after my mate. I didn't care if he was unable to do so in his bindings or not. No threat to my mate of any kind would or could be overlooked.

Char spoke up through her snickers, trying to settle the situation down further, "We don't need to fight amongst ourselves. We all need to calm the fuck down. Peter, lay off. Izzy, calm down. We need to come up with a plan, not hash out the fuckin' past. Right now fightin' amongst ourselves just gives whoever is against us the advantage."

Isabella growled from her chest but she didn't say anything, her eyes never leaving Peter.

Peter snorted through his nose and reluctantly threw himself back into his seat, the fight in him slowly receding.

The vamp-ash bindings were suddenly gone from Peter and he slumped back into his chair, but his glare wasn't so easy to steal away. Daggers shot at Isabella and bounced off as she returned his hostility.

"Peter," Izzy's voice was softer than her emotions, "You know I love ya' like a step child-"

"Don't tie me up, Izzy. Ya' know I hate when ya' do that shit. The least you could do is apologize." Peter pouted and was only half serious with his request.

Izzy snickered, "I'm sorry, Peter," she sighed heavily, "that you invented the vamp-ash bindings for me to tie you up with."

I laughed as did Nevell and Peter scowled hard at Izzy, but he was having a difficult time trying to hide his smirk.

"Ok, seriously now. What tha' fuck are we goin' to do? If ya'll insist on separatin', how the fuck do ya' plan to do it without gettin' someone killed?" Peter asked.

"When we hit the ground, we start packin'. We wait for word from Eleazar before we make concrete plans. No matter the news, we start hauling the shit down to Central America with a skeleton crew. No need to send more than necessary. We have people with Rucker who're scouting for a place right now. We can find a cave if nothing else to start setting our shit up in. Or hell, just store our shit in. We leave the majority of everyone in Canada until the last minute. If you think about it, separating is better than putting all our eggs in one basket." Izzy told him, laying it out for him.

When Peter didn't say anything to her ideas she continued, "We don't even know where or when the Games are going to be. We can travel separately to get there. No big deal. Leaving Mac to set up where he is I think, is the best option right now, depending on when the Games are. If they are within the next couple of weeks, it would be better for us to have him stabilized where he is."

"We really can't make any large decisions until we know what Eleazar finds out." Peter said and she quickly agreed so he went on, "We won't hear from him more than likely 'til tomorrow, we sit tight 'til then."

"That's fine. We can wait for him to call. I've never denied you that. But unless the Games are within the next couple weeks, we leave back to Mexico in the next few days." Izzy said.

"Al'right." Peter sighed.

I spoke up again, thinking this time I would be heard, "If you think about it, we aren't all that spread out like this. No more than the usual recon you showed me before we even left for Mexico. We should be pulling in people who are still out in the field anyway. Leaving them out in small groups leaves them vulnerable to attack. I think we should send them to Mexico to help with the efforts there instead. Everything else can be put on hold." I added.

"That's a good idea. We should have thought of that before. It just feels like we're spread out too thin. It's just me, I'm sure. After loosing Carlos and the others, I think I'm just on edge." Peter said morosely.

"What about the people we have with Zafrina?" Charlotte asked.

"We should leave them there. There aren't that many down there and the ones who are, are working with the ghouls and the wounded." Peter judged.

"Ok. So we're all in agreement. We need to talk about-" Isabella's words cut off as the static from the blank monitor in front of us, buzzed into our discussion.

"_INNNCOMING! Close the goddamn doors! Close the fucking hatches!_" Mac's voice broke through the black monitor and Izzy was scrambling for the controller to turn on visual before Mac's words finished leaving his mouth.

We all stood to our feet as we watched Mac's room came bouncing into focus.

We watched them scramble to combat formation in a blur, manning monitors and various equipment around the room quickly and with an efficiency that made my head spin.

I held Isabella in front of me with too much force, I realized, when she squeaked. I eased my grip on her but didn't let go.

"Tell us what's going on!" Peter demanded.

"We have incoming," Cheese flitted to our monitor as Mac jetted to a console on the far wall and began barking orders through it. Cheese was looking down away from us to something else as he spoke, "We don't know who, but it would appear we have at least fifty coming in from the north and east at a steady pace."

Cheese's voice trailed off as he pushed buttons and got distracted with whatever he was doing.

"Put it on our screen for us," Isabella told him. Cheese reached out to something on his side and suddenly our screen split. The top quarter was now Mac's place and the bottom three quarters were sectioned into eight even square views of the compound.

That's what he'd been doing, looking at the camera views of the fortress.

In three of the eight squares you could see movement through the trees as vampires advanced from several positions. They were tracking the lay of the land.

On the bottom of each screen was a number and I asked Isabella which camera was where. She quietly told me. My eyes scanned the other pictures and realized how sloppy the incoming attack was. They were only coming in from the east and north. I couldn't see movement in any of the other cameras. The troops who moved through the trees were coming up the sides of the ridges, advancing cautiously.

Maybe this wasn't an attack? Why would they leave the south and the west open for retreat?

Mac was still giving orders as we watched. He manned the underground city exits with sentry and blocked off what wasn't necessary. They had this drill down to a science.

"Where are they," Mac snapped as he came to stand with Cheese to peer at the monitors.

Cheese didn't answer him but looked up to us, "We have twenty-four of our sentries on the surrounding ridges. They'll let them pass without confrontation. They are holding their positions. We have thirty-seven down in the city manning entrances. That doesn't include the nine inside this room."

"They're moving slow." Mac acknowledged and he'd taken the words right out of my mouth. "There are only a couple of fresh scents out there and they're not even paying attention to them. What the fuck are they doing? Where's the audio?"

Cheese reached again and we could hear the outside world of the Fortress. It didn't give us anything though. No one was talking.

"Oh. Shit. Fuck me with a fork!" Mac hissed at the same time that Cheese let out his own expletives.

"Bottom right." Mac spit as explanation and my eyes snapped to the square camera view.

The image stood motionless, whatever they had seen wasn't there anymore.

We waited and watched when something or someone moved from behind a tree and flittered to the next tree. I couldn't make out who it was, but from Mac's reaction, I knew I shouldn't tear my eyes from it.

Then it happened. The person behind the tree hidden from the camera, peeked around the trunk and what I saw there had Major roaring in my head.

I couldn't actually hear anything for a couple of seconds as he unleashed his rage. Everyone stood, taking in the person who was now in view of the camera on the upper quadrant of the Fortress. Her two bodyguards flitted to her side and stood with her, flanking her, as she crept forward through the trees.

Maria and her minions.

I couldn't think straight.

Couldn't take a breath.

My body locked into the stillness that only a shocked vampire could obtain.

I heard someone gasping for air and until Isabella turned and drew my face to look at her instead of the image on the screen, I didn't realize it was me. I fought briefly, trying to move my eyes back to look at the person I hadn't seen in years. Decades.

I couldn't make any other part of my body move.

I wanted to rip something or someone apart.

Isabella was trying to say something to me, but I was pushing Beast down so hard it took all my senses to do so. I couldn't hear what she was saying.

Maria was at the Fortress.

Maria was within a couple hours of contact.

Beast was surfacing.

My eyes were locked on Isabella.

Where the hell did Maria get so many people? Where the hell had she come from? Why am I not on the ground tracking her? How can I get there? How do I get the fuck out of here? Why is Maria at the Fortress?

I turned and eyed the door on the jet, hastily assessing the situation and the odds if I could jump and run faster.

No, no I couldn't.

Fuck me.

I was loosing sense of reason.

All I could do was sit and watch and give guidance, opinions, advice and wisdom from ten thousand feet in the sky.

We had nothing else.

I pulled my shit together with a huge effort. I forced Beast back in his cage. Knowing he couldn't get closer any faster, he allowed me to shove him back and I refocused on the screens.

Major unfurled himself inside me and my grip on my mate eased as I regained my control. She still had her hands on my face and when I looked into her worried eyes, I saw the relief at what she saw.

Major and I.

No Beast.

Not yet.

She let out a relieved breath and nodded to me, turning to observe the monitor again. She didn't say anything, but I could feel the worry, I could feel her trepidation through the bond and in the air. This was going to be tricky and we both knew it. All I could do was help now and deal with the rest as it came.

I thought through the schematics I'd been shown of the layout of the Fortress, slipping effortlessly into Major's head for tactics.

"Have they infiltrated the underground city yet?" I asked.

"No, we haven't been compromised. The nearest entrance is north and they're almost to it. Maria is to the east. From their movements, it appears they're coming into this pretty blind. They don't know what they're going to find here." Mac told us. It was as if no one else knew the battle that was going on in my head. I guess that was true except for maybe Izzy, Edward and I. Maybe Peter knew.

"Send a small group to the southeast tunnel, but then send a larger group to the north and east tunnels. Send another large group to the waterfall. Don't put them out in the open until the vampires pass." I directed.

"Copy." Mac went back to the intercom, this time using the COM to speak to our now geared up sentry. Everyone by now should have had an earpiece in to communicate.

"They've just cleared over the East Ridge, our sentry are waiting for command." Mac said and turned to speak to someone quickly, then turned back to us.

"Good, how many of our scouts are on the East Ridge?"

"Six, we doubled up when we secured the underground city. All ghouls. The incoming will not detect anything. The freshest scents out there are a few days old. There are twenty-four total spread out around the perimeter."

"Keep them there. Have them wait for our sentry to come up behind Maria's troops, and then have them join the forces." I said.

"Copy." Mac murmured, already making what I said happen.

"Let Emmett into the action." Isabella told them.

Cheese stopped dead in his tracks as he looked up to Isabella as the demand left her lips. His face scrunched. "What?"

"Let him fight." She said again.

"Are you sure that's wise…?"

"Yes. He's been gunning for a fight, this will be the closest Rose will let him. Send them through the south tunnels. We need everyone we can get. If they step out of line, which I doubt they will, decapitate them." She said coldly. I wasn't the only one who looked at her in shock.

Cheese hesitated only for a second before he was speaking into his own COM.

"Do you think that's wise?" Peter asked her.

"This will prove their loyalties. If Rose wants to make amends, this is the time. Emmett needs to release some of his frustration, he'll keep Rose in line if it's the last thing he does. We need their help, she owes us and she will give us this." She was a little blasé about it, and I wasn't going to argue. I didn't have time to stop and ponder her motives if she had any others than what she said.

"Give us a split view; I want to see the rest of the camera views on the outside." Isabella ordered when Cheese was finished giving instructions for Emmett and Rose. He nodded to acknowledge her, and the screen bounced again and came up with eight more boxes, making a total of sixteen, on the bottom half of the screen. The top quarter was still Mac's place.

The eight other views, now significantly smaller, showed the areas in the sentry camp, the empty helicopter pad, the waterfall and the south entrances all at various angles.

"You're an hour away from us," Mac spoke as he came back to our monitor, "You're going to miss the action," Mac said, and he seemed to have calmed down immensely, now that the plan was being implemented to his liking. We had a few minutes to wait for Maria's troops to come in further, before we could move to strike.

"Don't remind us," I said and smirked, "Keep the cunt alive." I didn't have to tell him who I was referring to, "I don't care if she's dismembered, just alive."

"You got it. She won't have her head on, but we can keep her from the flames until you get here." Mac promised.

"Make sure you take out her bodyguards as soon as possible. Don't leave them alive in case they can use their power even decapitated." Isabella told Mac.

"Roger that. The ghouls will take them out." Mac nodded in confirmation of the orders he'd already delegated out.

"Water people stay, east, north, merge out. Join the perimeter guards quickly." Mac ordered.

We watched as suddenly the tunnel entrances hidden in the bracken on the forest floor flew open soundlessly, and our sentry emerged and blurred out of movement.

Watching them made me crazy. This wasn't a pleasant place to be. I wondered how Mac and his crew did it. Sitting in the room with no action would make my head explode. Then I realized they were all busy with some activity or another. They were in charge of the battle. It kept them focused and occupied. A feeling of accomplishment could be had from their positions.

None could be had from mine. Stuck in the air with nowhere to go. I couldn't make the jet go any faster. I checked the time; we were half an hour out from touching ground. Another forty-five minute run from the Fortress. The fight would be over before then.

They wouldn't be able to wait for us.

The battle raged within me and I tried to keep it hidden, Isabella's tight grip on me let me know that I wasn't doing a good job. Edward's sideway glances were starting to piss me off. I was being watched and guarded like I would explode any second. I couldn't blame them, since that's exactly what I felt like was going to happen.

Our sentry moved through the trees, appearing and disappearing in succession.

"Hold your positions," Mac warned and our sentry stopped.

Maria was almost to the outside sentry fortress. Sentry awaited her arrival.

Everyone held their breath as they awaited the signal.

Minutes ticked by as the incoming slowed and moved with extreme caution. They had walkie-talkies and every now and then Maria would speak into it or one of her posse. Their voices too soft and quick to make anything out.

Mac had ordered Sarah to find the frequency they were using, but thus far without any luck.

We watched.

We waited.

"East go…. North go…. South come in slow…. Water tunnel hold." Our sentry moved out in a shadow of a precise and orchestrated attack.

Maria's minions were far too late with a counter attack. She and her guards turned to defend, and we could see only blurs and bursts of movement.

Only when someone fell did we catch the remnants of battle.

"Water tunnel move now." Mac barked, and the men and woman from the falls burst through in a splatter, coming up behind Maria's troops who had barely passed them. The troop was taken by complete surprise and was taken down with minimum pain.

I saw Emmett at one point flash in front of a camera as he crossed the ground behind Maria's troops, who were on their way to help Maria's skirmish. He took down two unsuspecting vampires before he moved on.

Taking in the panoramic of views left me disoriented, and I found that I couldn't look at more than a couple of squares at once. It had the feeling of watching a movie and gave me the detachment I needed to keep my head on my shoulders and my wits about me.

To keep Beast down.

It was getting increasingly harder and harder.

When I realized I'd taken my eyes off Maria, my eyes snapped back to them. The screams and cries coming from those attacking and being attacked filled us with trepidation and helplessness.

It brought Beast closer to the surface as I watched Maria fight for her life. Her minions had taken down only two ghouls before they'd been taken down themselves. Three ghouls and two vampires circled her as she rotated with them, looking for the next attack.

A low growl that was no more my own began in the pit of my stomach and moved slowly through my body, working its way out.

Isabella's grip on me became painful as she attempted to hold me to reality. My fingers dug into her hips, trying to hold her to me. I pulled in her scent, and tried to loosen my muscles.

I didn't take my eyes off Maria's screen even when I heard screams and Peter's harsh words of encouragement and guidance, raging on desperate breaths as he spoke to deaf ears. Not even when Isabella joined him, trying to communicate words that would never reach the ears of intended.

Nevell, Edward and Char stood breathing heavily, watching the mayhem unfold.

The air buzzed around me and my snarls grew to almost audibility.

Maria circled again and our vampire sentry, now at her back, struck with a meticulousness of age-old warriors.

They left no room for error.

She didn't have a chance.

Beast surfaced.

I was unable to contain him any longer.

I fell to my knees, bringing the woman in my arms down with me. She realized too late what was happening. Her concern for her men and woman in the little squares had given her the distraction that Beast needed to take control over our vessel.

She said something, but I was no longer listening.

She was no longer important.

The woman on the screen was, as I watched in horror as they took her down, tying her up.

Incapacitating her.

A roar of my disapproval left my open mouth.

Sending out my gift, giving nothing away, keeping my own emotions locked within, I took in my surroundings, I evaluated my situation. The jet rocked and I felt and heard the wheels come down.

We were landing. I would soon be free of these confines. Free of my captors.

I stood.

No one moved to me.

I felt the eyes of those with me, searing me with their gaze, but I paid no heed to them.

The woman in front of me rose to her feet and grabbed my face, forcing me to take my eyes away from the monitor.

"I love you." The woman said. The words tried to penetrate and I felt the awareness in me, trying to take control.

"I love you with everything I am." She spoke again.

I didn't respond. I was now fighting to stay on the surface. I was fighting the wake inside me, threatening to push me back down.

Her eyes were like nothing I had ever seen. They shadowed and shimmered with the emotions of a million beings. Yet, I could not listen.

I could not hear.

I cut off my senses, plotting my course.

The jet had slowed and drastically dipped.

Isabella's hands slipped from me as I took a step back.

She was trying to tell me something, but I was no longer sentient to her woes.

I had a goal.

I was leaving this jet, right now.

In less than a second I was out the door and off the jet. It was higher than I had expected. As I burst out the side door, I plummeted toward a fast approaching earth filled with trees and rocks.

I fell.

And fell.

I hit the ground on my side, with a tumble of rolls, I propelled across ground until my acceleration was slowed by debris in my path. My body came to a crashing halt at the base of a tree.

I pulled in lungs of air to settle myself and started assessing.

A dislocated shoulder.

Not bad for jumping out of a jet still in the air.

Popping to my feet, I smashed back into the tree that stopped me, popping my shoulder back in with a huge burst of pain. The tree fell, but it had served its purpose.

I bolted west.

I could feel Isabella right behind me and it took all of my energy not to turn and growl at her.

Her sudden appearance pushed me harder and I dug my feet in, flying over the ground like mist as I wove and jumped through my topography.

The roar in my head wouldn't relent and it was hard to think around. I watched as the fauna, trees and rocks whizzed by as we flew towards our destination.

One goal in mind.

I could feel her.

I would find her.

Not the female behind us, but the woman ahead of us. Emotions long forgotten surfaced like tidal waves of raw pain.

I let it fill me.

Fuel me.

It was old friends come back for me.

The pain.

The rage.

The hurt.

The grief.

I thrived on it.

I would thrive on it once again.

My Maker was here.

My creator.

The woman I owed so much to for bringing me into this world and making me who I was, who I am.

It had been so long, too long, to feel this adrenaline pump through my veins. Jasper and Major kept it under lock and key, never letting me feel the emotions of yesteryear.

They kept me hidden.

But no longer.

It filled me.

Drove me.

Kept me alive.

Kept me on the surface and in control of this vessel.

I couldn't take it anymore; I turned, roaring at my pursuer. The woman with the long dark thick braid stopped and stared at me. Her face one of horror for only a second before she roared back.

I felt her pain and hurt, but most confusing, I felt her exasperation. She was fierce and there was something familiar about her that I knew I should be remembering.

I flinched at her, but she didn't move and I turned and ran. If she wanted to follow, she would learn a terrible lesson. I didn't have time for her, but I would destroy her when I was ready.

Why was she familiar?

The woman behind us was fast.

I could feel her.

I felt the power of her.

She drew me in.

It was like she was trying to draw me backwards.

I spun again, and once again she stopped.

I took her in.

What the fuck was her deal?

This woman with long braided hair.

This woman who stood defiantly before me. I had killed for less.

She was familiar.

A sword handle protruded from her shoulder on her back.

A sword. Odd.

I didn't like it.

Then I remembered, I saw a flash of her above me.

She was the one from the mountain stream.

Shit.

I turned and ran from her.

I didn't like her.

I didn't want her.

I didn't have time to deal with her.

The woman who took me down with ease at the creek in Mexico.

She was my pursuer.

She had tricked me.

The woman who shoved her delicious arousal and pussy in my face.

The woman who made me deliver my submission to her.

The woman who sent fire into my veins and called me 'boy'.

She had taken me by surprise there in that water.

She wouldn't be doing that again.

I was on my way to my Sire.

I had more important things to handle than deal with braided hair woman.

Braided hair was the one my heart had beat for the first time since this existence. I had felt it pound in my chest, you couldn't convince me otherwise.

She had made me feel something other than pain.

She was the one I had bent over and took her for my mate.

I slowed.

I had no mate.

No.

No mate.

The woman who was ahead of us was the one who made me who I am.

I was a better male when with her.

A better warrior.

A better horror.

I knew no mercy.

I knew no love.

That's who I was.

NO mate.

Not some pussy boy who let some woman get the better of me.

I wanted my Sire, not the braided hair.

My sire.

My Maker.

Yes.

She'd taught me the difference between pain and reward. Sometimes giving me both when I needed it most.

Pain was reward where I came from.

My Sire was in trouble.

She'd given me this life.

She'd shown me how to curve my monster into something that could be gratifying beyond the realms of pain. We had soaked in our blood baths together. Fighting and conquering so we could feast. She let me.

I tore villages apart.

I fed from anything I could get my hands on.

We had done it together.

She encouraged me. The Beast.

She'd taught me cruelty, torture, and the benefits that came from it.

Maria.

Maria led me.

Maria who guided me. She kept me in line and alive.

Maria was pivotal to my survival.

She had my obedience.

I hadn't wanted to obey, but she had taught me that without it, I would be nothing.

I would be dead.

I would be pain itself.

I would have nothing.

No mate.

She would show me impairment and the error of my ways if I defied her.

She would punish me.

Withhold my rewards from me.

Devour me.

She was who knew when I needed blood. She knew when I was at my peak of arousal and how to give me the release I needed. She knew how twisted my mind could be and she knew how to coax it for more.

She was who let my darkest fantasies come to fruition.

She knew what I needed, when I needed it.

She owned my chains.

I sped up again. My pursuer kept pace, but their distance was far enough back that I didn't find it a threat. They weren't trying to stop me. They weren't trying to talk to me.

Chains.

I didn't like chains.

I hated chains.

The terrain changed and I began to climb.

I could feel the _Maker _tug on me. It started in my gut and worked its way through my body.

Pulling me.

Pushing me faster. I ran on instinct.

I ran on adrenaline.

The adrenaline that once drove me years ago.

The power that held me prisoner.

It made me ache.

It made me want things that no living or dead creature should ever want for.

It drove me forward and up.

Cresting the ridge, I stopped to assess.

The pursuer's steps stopped as well and did not advance. I threw out a growled warning anyway.

I looked over the valley and what I saw tore at me.

Filled me.

Ate me from the inside out.

The dark braided woman's Fortress lay before me in tatters. But that wasn't what was shocking.

It was the blood and body parts I could see. I searched the remains. Other vampires and creatures flittered in the rising smoke, picking up pieces, throwing them into the flames.

It incensed me. They were destroying my Makers hard earned creations.

I roared once more and plunged into the forest again, this time gravity speeding my efforts as I thrust downward.

I used trees and rocks to help propel me faster. Assessing the quickest way to my goal.

I smelled her.

Her unique flavour.

Earthy and sour.

The sourness of death.

Years of death.

Years of abuse and torture.

The sour taint of the soul.

I once had the same sour undertone as she did. It came with the constant death that surrounded us. It came with the evil that resided within us.

Her sour tang filled my nostrils as I charged through downed trees and scattered debris, ignoring the raging in my head.

I flew through the scattering of preternatural on a mission.

I left the fleers alone.

They held no interest to me.

They weren't a threat.

I was fear and they moved out of reach.

They would only slow me down if I stopped to take care of them.

I could take care of them later.

I hit the center tunnel entrance and let my body plummet down to the shadowy passageway below. Stopping to scent the air and test the pull that was stronger than ever, I sprinted south when I judged where it was pulling me.

I felt the presence still at my back, pursuing me and it was time to give another warning. They were getting too close.

I turned and lunged without warning.

I was the one, again, who was taken by surprise.

Instead of defending, the braided hair woman lunged, seemingly prepared for my attack.

We crashed with the thunder of Gods and before I knew it, I was flat on my back.

I stared, momentarily shocked, before I lifted my legs to her stomach and kicked her back over the top of me.

I watched her as I sprung up and around, never taking my eyes off her, as she twisted and landed on her feet.

She was now in my way and kept me from my ambition.

The braided haired woman snarled at me and made a motion with her hands, motioning me forward.

Come hither they said.

I took the invitation against my better judgment.

It seemed this woman could render me brainless in seconds.

That enraged me.

I plowed forward, watching her body closely for signs to which way she would move.

Before I could get to her, my legs were pulled together and I found myself falling forward.

At the last second, the braided woman stepped backward, just out of my grasp.

I watched as my hands were bound before they hit the cave floor.

Goddammit!

She was on my back in the next nanosecond, with her teeth at my neck and a sword at my throat. I automatically went limp.

How?

How did she do this again?

Fucking idiot!

Her ability.

She had an ability and somehow in my one tracked mission, I'd somehow miss-judged her again! Where did the ties come from? She didn't have any on her!

She growled at me, "I will let you go. I will let you find what you're after. But do not, EVER, fucking attack me again. Who the fuck do you think you are? I own you. NEVER forget that."

I said nothing.

She did not own me.

"I will give this information to you, so you are not surprised at what you will find in what you seek. You're Sire is in the room at the end of this tunnel. She is behind a locked door. There is a panel on the wall that your hand, when placed upon it, will open for you. She is in a room tied to the wall. She is without certain body parts." She snapped, nipping my neck and I froze, waiting.

I roared at this information. My head hit the rock below me, cutting off my scream as shards of shale went flying, as my head made an indentation in the earth.

"Knock it the fuck off. This is why I'm telling you now. I'm not going to withhold you from finding her. But what I will tell you is this. If I don't like what's happening, I _will_ fucking kill her. Do you understand me?" she threatened.

She would not.

I would kill the braided one first. The braided one, if she ever let me go, would be ash.

My teeth gritted to keep quiet. My body tensed under her control. She thought she owned me. She thought she could control me. No one controlled me.

NO ONE owned me.

"I am not in control of you. I am not your Poppet Master. Nor do I want to be. Nor will I ever be. Think about that, asshole." She hissed.

I growled lowly, was she reading my mind? I didn't like that she knew what I was thinking.

"You think this is my first rodeo, boy?" She whispered in my ear. I inhaled sharply as she grabbed my hair, drawing me up from the rock, the blade of the sword once again at my Adams apple. The scent I took into my nostrils filled me with familiarity. I struggled against the feelings it brought.

I struggled against the hold it held to me that wrapped into my awareness.

I was getting sick of this little chat.

She needed to let go.

I needed to be unbound.

If I was good, I knew she would let me go.

"When I let you up, I will untie you. Do not attack me or you will find yourself in the same predicament. Do you understand?" She shook my head for emphasis, making me snarl.

I hissed, not giving the braided one an answer either way.

She must have taken it as an assent, because she began to draw herself back, but then… her other hand was there under my nose.

I inhaled involuntarily and was instantly assaulted with a scent I had grown to…

FUCK!

She'd wiped her essence under my nose.

"Don't you forget." Her voice a gravely harsh whisper.

It wrapped around and filled me.

Penetrated my senses.

Wrapped me in uncertainty.

She was suddenly off of me and my hands were free.

My legs were free the same time that I was on my feet.

I didn't look back. I moved forward in a sprint.

Sloppy of her to let me go.

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

I would kill her last.

I would show her torture.

I would show her what I was made of.

Rounding a corner, I saw the door holding my vice.

I saw the door that would open to what I was seeking.

The door that held my Maker within its confines.

I reached up, wiping my nose off, but all it accomplished was to rub it in and smear it across my face and hands.

GODDAMMIT!

I shuddered, standing before the door, my chest heaved. I breathed through clenched teeth and avoided allowing air into my nostrils.

It didn't help. Now her scent was on my tongue.

Seeping into my pores.

Clouding my mind.

Taking my shirt, I ripped it off and wiped my nose further.

I could suddenly smell the sour foulness in the air that seeped from the door in front of me.

My Maker.

Maria.

She was beyond this door.

Lifting my hand, I pressed it to the panel beside the door, the door hissed and opened.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+) **

**A/N**

**I know I suck.**

**It's only going to get worse from here.**

**Beast is struggling I think… he's a little off kilter. Do you think once he sees the condition Maria is in he'll go completely bonkers? Will he kill her or free her?**

**I'm scared for Izzy!**

**Next chapter is already done. I'll post early so Please don't rag on me too hard.**

**Read and Review fast and I'll post quickly. :)**

**THANKS FOR ALL YOU REVIEWERS! You make my day!**

**See ya all soon!**


	25. Chapter 25

A/N

**I know most of you don't read these A/N's but I thought I'd write anyway for those few who do.**

**As ALWAYS~ HUGE Thank you to Bripearl and LetsJustDance! My betas of higher powers!**

*******Response to some of the reviews and PM's for last chapter~ You have to remember that Jasper's been mated to Izzy for only two weeks. And although that bond is unbreakable and undeniable… Beast was Maria's Poppet for 100 + years. She is also his ****Sire****. I think that's got some weight behind it. Beast is running on instinct. **

**He hasn't seen Maria for what? 80 years? In those 80 years Jasper has completely suppressed Beast ~ so hard ~ Beast hasn't had control or real consciousness for 80 years… until Izzy got him to come out. So he's… well… out of practice and out of control.**

**Maria is Jasper's Sire… but she's also ****Beasts' Maker****. She forced Major and Jasper to create an alter ego to Survive. Beast responds to her, whether we all like it or not.**

**So Jasper, Major and Beast are struggling to cope. To co-exist. Struggling to control each other.**

**Major was trapped deep down in Jasper for 20 years. Jasper's been running the show and doing an emo job of it. Wallowing in his shame, hate, blame and thinking he might have lost his mate. **

**Give the boy a chance to redeem himself. Lol… I loved your reviews, I did. Even the ones who got a little nasty… it means you're emotionally involved and that takes my breath away. **

**Thank you.**

_**Previously;**_

_I shuddered, standing before the door, my chest heaved. I breathed through clenched teeth and avoided allowing air into my nostrils._

_It didn't help. Now her scent was on my tongue. _

_Seeping into my pores. _

_Clouding my mind._

_Taking my shirt, I ripped it off and wiped my nose further. _

_I could suddenly smell the sour foulness in the air that seeped from the door in front of me._

_My Maker._

_Maria._

_She was beyond this door._

_Lifting my hand, I pressed it to the panel beside the door, the door hissed and opened._

**~DEMONS RELEASED, LET THE GAMES BEGIN~**

**~JPOV~**

The door lay open.

My hand was still on the panel, giving me free, unobstructed access.

Directly in front of me, bare crevassed wall.

To the right; mirrored glass.

Part of a table standing at the base of the bare wall held tools of torture. I could see nothing else.

But I could smell.

Scent hit me, bringing back memories.

Memories best forgotten and locked away.

Memories that lay just below the surface.

The scent, sour and foul, even to me. My scent no longer seamlessly tangled itself well with it.

My scent was clean and untainted by the horrors of long ago.

I held my gag back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the braided haired one standing, watching me.

I wanted to scream at her.

What had she done?

What did she do to me to make the sour scent foul?

It wasn't foul.

It couldn't be.

I remembered it and once embraced it.

Bathed in it.

The tart sour stench of my Maker's scent always brought me a sense of being. Gave me the ability to survive this life and anything thrown at me. I belonged.

The scent meant food and reprieve from my thirst.

Reprieve from my fantasies.

I stood still, waiting for the zest that always came with that cloying scent.

It faltered.

Stuttered.

It never came.

There was no wave of relief that I would be fed.

There was no sense of excitement coming that my Maker could use my body to relieve her malevolent fantasies. Fantasies that spoke of blood, torture, cruelty and death.

I didn't want her forms of relief, either.

That can't be right, could it?

What had the dark haired braided woman done to me?

The braided woman.

The woman who bested me twice without effort.

The woman I had tried to attack, even though my body had told me she was mine.

The woman who with one session, taught me that fantasies didn't have to be painful.

Even if the fantasy was dark, it didn't have to come with the price of a piece of my soul.

The braided haired woman gave pleasure but with the ownership of a mate.

I had made her mine.

She made me hers.

No ultimatums or killing involved.

She hadn't taken a piece of my soul. If anything she'd given some back.

She was worthy of us.

She'd proven that over and over. I had watched from the sidelines as Major and Jasper had taken her. Made her theirs.

I didn't believe in their assessment.

I had been proven wrong.

The filthy smell from the room before me finally grew to fusion, and I gagged.

I let go of the panel and the door hissed shut as I stumbled backward a step.

What was this?

Snarling, sputtering, spitting venom I sought the rage that drove me.

Did the dark haired beauty to my left make this happen?

Did she put a spell on me?

Was that what it was?

I didn't think so.

I was strong. A warrior.

I felt it in my venom and in the human blood that was racing through my body.

Empowering me.

I stood, staring at the door and trying to make sense of it.

Why was my Maker's scent not capturing and causing the usual euphoria?

Why did my Maker suddenly have no hold on me? I didn't want to go into the room.

I didn't want to face her.

I didn't want to fuck her.

I didn't want to drink with her.

I wanted to kill her.

My Maker's scent and the one of the braided woman swirled around me and I wanted to separate them. I didn't want the sourness to taint my mate's scent.

Mate.

My mate's scent.

My mate.

The beautiful braided haired woman, who had almost as many scars as me, whose scent stuck in my nostrils and made me crazy with confusion.

I didn't like uncertainty.

I wasn't a victim of confusion. I had known from the moment I had awoken, only a sense of recognition of all things. I knew how to survive. I knew how to get Major and Jasper out of anything and I took the brunt of all things evil. They couldn't do it. They were weaker than I was.

I sounded like they did, right now.

Weak.

I didn't think things through. I destroyed. No questions asked.

So why now did I have this hesitation? Where was it growing from?

Why was I being a fucking emotional fucktard?

I pushed Jasper and Major down further.

Getting distance. Their influence would not tarnish me.

My hand shot out and with a lurch of my body, it landed on the panel, releasing the door once again.

It hissed and without hesitation this time, I stepped in.

I turned left to take in the Maker whose body had been deformed.

They had removed her arms.

Shackled by her neck and legs, she hung from the wall.

Her head snapped to me, but the restraint of her bindings around her head, around her jaw, kept her voice from me.

I walked forward, slowly watching her eyes track me across the room.

I saw the evil of me reflected back in her ruby shadowed depths.

The origin of my becoming the tyrant I had needed to be. The origin of my foulness that once hung over me and made me who I was.

Stopping two feet from her, I took her in.

This was my Maker.

My Sire.

Maria.

The woman taught me; I didn't know evil until she had shown me.

No pain until she'd granted me the pleasure.

I hadn't known true thirst until I was at her mercy.

She controlled me.

She had controlled me.

No longer.

I killed men, woman, children, old, middle-aged, young, newborn, trained, human and vampire for _her_. By her side.

The more I killed, the more my thirst was quenched.

It was survival.

If I did not become what nightmares are made of, I did not get rewarded.

If I did not kill, I became the hunted.

I was the one who chased the damsel through the forest and did the unspeakable.

I was the one who ravaged and pillaged.

I was the one who hid in the closet the children would scream at and run to their parents to seek comfort from.

I was the one who made horrendous look good in a suit.

I was the one who nightmares were made of.

All for survival.

All for this woman.

All for my Maker.

My deeds fed her soul.

The more inane, the better the reward.

Reward. Torture.

The torture released me. Made me pay for my sins.

Dismemberment.

Drained of my venom until I was mad with thirst.

Only she gave reprieve.

Only my Maker could help me atone for my sins.

She chained me to her.

Made me beyond obedient.

Chained me to her.

Chained.

Suffocated.

She was the one now chained before me.

She was repulsive.

I felt it coming and before I could stop it, I howled with every memory of my incarceration in her hands.

I roared to the heavens of the injustice of it all.

I bellowed with the fucked-up, never-ending circle of depravity.

It came from deep within my soul.

It came through my body in a rush and surge that poured from me.

I had no control over it.

I didn't want control over it.

I growled my rage.

I released my pain into my Maker.

The chains rattled and shuttered around my soul.

Chains holding me prisoner clattered and shook.

My chains strained, I wailed and screeched.

They broke.

Gave way.

I let go of my sins, freeing them from within.

A century and more of torment.

A century of destruction.

Years of blood.

Years of weakness.

Years of madness at the hands of the most polluted creature ever made.

I let it go.

I pushed it into _her_.

I made _her_ take it.

Made _her_ feel it, wallow in it.

Dancing on the wall, her body jerked and trembled, fighting the onslaught.

She floundered as it swallowed her, consumed her.

Terror filled her.

Horror.

She spasmed in her restraints, breaking the ties around her head with feral agonized screams.

Venom leaked from her nose as she shrieked, arched, and convulsed against the wall.

Venom drooled out of her mouth and down her chin, splattering her throat and chest.

Her body slapped against the slabs of gray, tan and brown rock wall in an attempt to get away from the onslaught of grief that I pummeled her with.

Shale chipped and flew into the room as I roared and she screamed.

I watched her eyes bug from her head as pain ripped her apart from the inside out.

I knew nothing but the woman before me that had held me prisoner for more than a hundred years.

Her foul acerbic smell filled my head, making it impossible to liberate her from the constraints I put her in.

She was mine.

Her will was mine.

Her pain was mine.

I gave it all back.

I forced her to feel everything she'd ever given me all in one dose.

Years of stored emotional and physical grief… I let her have it all.

Something released inside me as I bellowed away the pain, hate and rage residing and contained within me.

Something profound released from my body in waves.

I felt it leave.

The shackles came off.

The control once placed on me by my Maker, slipped from me.

I was no longer confined.

No longer _chained_.

I felt it leave me and strike her with an almost audible cuff as I took control of _HER_.

I saw the terror in my Maker's eyes…. I saw fear. I could smell it mixing with her foulness.

The tarting sour scent burned bitter on my tongue.

Her body recoiled away from me and tried to sink into the wall behind her.

I hadn't even touched her yet.

…I rejoiced.

Her neck strained, tendon and muscle bunched, appearing as if it would snap from strain and pressure.

Her teeth gritted in pain, a high keening noise releasing from the pits of her hell.

I pushed harder, liberating myself of the immorality, darkness, depravity, corruption, debauchery, and perverseness that filled my being… my soul. It rushed from me pummeling her in a steady flow, building in her, and producing convulsions she couldn't deny.

She couldn't deflect, not only because she was incapacitated to do so, but also because there was no hiding from me. No hiding from the weight I saturated her with. I could feel it empty from me, into her, and I couldn't stop it.

I wanted her to feel it.

I wanted her to own it.

Not just for me, but for all those centuries of pain and debauchery she'd caused for hundreds… thousands of sentient beings. She'd given and taken life so many times, that no one knew where it began and where it ended.

No, that wasn't right. I knew where it ended. It ended here.

It ended now.

This was the beginning of her end.

With Alice it was a public execution. I had been surprised that standing at Alice's Pire, I'd felt no closure. I felt deprived of revenge. Vengeance.

I would not deny myself this time.

The warfare of emotions trickled out of me as I finished letting go of the rancid blackness that once wrapped itself around my soul.

I felt lighter.

I felt free.

No more pull to the flesh before me.

The darkness was gone.

I searched for it.

I felt an emptiness where it was once filled with murky shadows of darkness.

I didn't know what to do about that. It was hollowing, yet comforting.

It was something I wasn't used to, something completely foreign.

I wasn't sure what just happened. It was like something allowed me to let go of all the obscurity that held me prisoner.

Jasper and Major were closer than they ever had been before. Their emotions mixed with mine and I staggered back away from the iniquity before me. Shutting down my gift quickly, putting a barrier up so I didn't take it back in, I gained my balance and tried to gain some semblance of gravity.

I was still Beast, but not.

I knew I could kill with precision.

I knew I could be the Beast I was meant to be.

I knew this part of me could bring down the heavens if needed.

But the need for pain and desolation no longer drove me.

I felt disoriented without it. I'd lived with it for so long….

That black hole of death that accompanied me wherever I went… was absent.

I could feel the opening it had left. Waiting to be filled again.

Did I want to fill it?

I wasn't sure.

I didn't think so.

It felt so gratifying that there was an empty space.

It was gone.

I wasn't anyone's bitch.

I was my own monster. I could create from anew.

I stared at the woman before me.

Her being was wrapped in rancid foulness. Thicker than before.

I'd given her my demons.

I'd forced her to take them back.

I'd given her every scar, every mark of blackness, every sick perverseness, every ailing pain I'd ever had and thrown it back at her, making her live it all at once. It stuck to her and held.

I was shaken to my core.

How did that happen? How had I done it?

Was it my gift that allowed me to be able to force it back on her?

Did my gift allow me to make her suffer the ills of my soul?

I wasn't sure.

I faced the female banshee before me and felt… nothing.

She had no chains on me.

She did not control me.

She was nothing.

The pull was gone.

Maker or not, she had no pull on me.

"Hello, Maria."

Her answering pants were all she managed in response.

The top of her head wrenched back so far it was flat against the rock, her chest thrust forward, stuck in the air. Venom slid down her throat and sides of her neck, soaking her cloths. The stubs of her arms leaked even more venom; it ran down her sides, saturating her tattered clothing.

She spasmed once in awhile, like electricity in a live wire, sporadic and charged. Her remaining limbs jerked and seized.

"Welcome to your Judgment Day." Menace dripped from my voice. That was good. I'd be shit fire pissed if I was going to be a pussy boy after this. I wasn't Eddie-boy. No emo-chick here.

Maria's body sagged, muscles quivering in the aftermath. She had to rock her head back and forth to work it up the wall and out from its precarious position.

She finally worked it free and lifted her face; her eyes pitch black, soulless, staring at me with unspeakable hate.

"Major." She rasped.

"Mmm, yes," Cocking my head I observed her with detached emotion, "your personal, come to life, nightmare."

Her laugh was husky with previous exertion before she spoke, the rasping no better than the first time, "My nightmares are darker than your worst."

"We shall see," I murmured. A slight breath behind me drew my attention. Turning to the door, the dark braided haired woman stood as a statue.

Maria hissed and before I could stop the motion, my hand whipped out, backhanding her. Her head rocked back, ricocheting off the stone behind her. Venom flew from her mouth, nose, and face, splattering the crevasses of rock on the far wall.

"Not allowed, watch yourself," I hissed at her.

Turning once again to face the braided haired woman… Bella…. Isabella… my mate, moved forward to stand to the left of me.

Her eyes met mine and a thousand wordless conversations passed between us.

Her forgiveness, relief and love swept over me and I exhaled the breath I'd been holding. I could feel the pain she was trying to hide and my eyes slipped down her body.

"Well aint this fucking nice," Maria's sneer ended with another backhand across her head from me.

"No talking, unless I tell you I want to hear your nasty mouth," the low unspoken threat was backed up with a dose of intense fear, keeping the fool's mouth shut. My new punching toy.

"Is she more use to us alive or dead?" my mate asked.

My eyes still on my Maker, I looked her over. Maria was of no use to me anymore. But I didn't want her to die. I didn't want to see her life force snuffed out.

I could feel her, the fear coming off of her, intensifying her foulness.

I wanted to spend years torturing her. I wanted to see how black I could make _her _soul. I wanted to see if I could make the pits of hell themselves come for her.

I faced Isabella, "She is no use to us, but I have better plans than to kill her, yet."

Isabella searched my face and gave me a sharp nod. Whether it was understanding or support, I wasn't sure. But she didn't question me.

"You won't kill me." Maria sneered again. Woman wouldn't learn.

"Darlin'," I asked Isabella, "Would you do me the honor?"

"With pleasure," She said as bindings were already around Maria's head, shutting her mouth shut once again.

The door hissed as two people entered, took one look at my eyes, and dropped theirs to the floor.

"I will need her restrained here until I see fit. She is not to be harmed by anyone," I commanded.

The two new faces shot a look at my mate, their faces shocked. They didn't look at me. They glanced at Maria who suddenly found a new thing to fear as she struggled. She was staring at the new occupants with dread and utter alarm.

"He means to torture her for a length of time unknown. Calm down." Isabella did understand my intentions, but why was she telling them what I had already told them? My face must have belied my puzzlement.

Isabella turned to me, reaching up to cup my face, "They thought you were keeping her alive for her sake, not for your use."

OH.

I guess I wasn't firing on all cylinders yet.

Whatever darkness I'd released into my Maker was still leaving me lopsided.

"That won't be a problem, Major. She can stay as long as necessary." The male said. Peter.

His mate stood beside him. Charlotte.

The fog slowly lifting from my mind, I looked back to Isabella, running my eyes over her again. Her shoulder was out of place. Dislocated as mine had been. Remembering her recent injuries my mind went into panic.

I stepped forward, reaching for her, running my hands over her looking for more injuries.

She winced and I hissed.

FUCK! She'd jumped out of the jet after me with recently healed ribs and arm. Damn it!

I needed to re-group. Taking Isabella's body into my arms, I held her cradled to me as I walked out the door, throwing instructions over my shoulder. My Sire forgotten as my need to take my mate away, overcame me.

My pace slowly picked up until we were blurring down tunnels.

We came out at the falls and I set her down gently.

Taking her shoulder in my hands, "This is going to hurt" I murmured. Leaning forward, I kissed her, sending her calm and love, then I jerked, popping her shoulder back into place.

Her gritted teeth and sharp keening left me at a loss. Anger boiled in my veins as I thought of her following after me when she was already hurting.

"I can't believe you jumped-" I started.

"Hush." She said and her lips met mine again.

Standing fully clothed under the cascading water, I pulled Izzy to me carefully and pushed my nose into her neck. I felt myself slipping away with her smell. My salvation.

Breathing her in, I tried to process the events of the last couple of hours.

Grasping at feelings and developments of which had led me here. I'd let Beast take me out of a jet thousands of feet in the air.

I'm not sure when he'd given me back control or if I was still working on his dime.

Maybe somehow we'd combined over the last forty-five minutes when we forced Maria to take the blackness for her own.

I just wasn't sure.

Izzy held onto me, saying nothing. She was healing. She was safe.

Beast didn't hurt her.

Then I realized she'd taken me down in that tunnel when she was hurt. That pissed me off again. Feeling the turbulent emotions in me, Isabella rubbed my back and arms, bringing me back down again.

I remember Beast not recognizing her, but at no time was there any real threat to her. He'd thought it a couple of times. But never once had he truly meant to hurt her.

I marveled at that.

I thought back to the room that confined the she-devil. What happened?

"When I got to that room?" I whispered, the rush of water covering up and taking away my words, but I knew she heard me, "I don't know what happened."

Her grip tightened but waited for more, "Beast… he… I don't know." I pulled back from her and held her face between my hands. "Something happened… something profound, I think. I let out all the emotions that had held me prisoner and forced Maria to take them."

Izzy nodded, "Is that what you did? I saw it."

"You did? What do you mean?"

"When you roared.. er… howled or whatever that was the first time, it was like… a black cloud come out of you and started wrapping around her." She stuttered out.

"Really?"

She nodded again, "It was like… shit I don't know how to explain it. It was as if you gave her some kind of blackness. Or.. something. At first I thought it was just our bond and I could see you manipulating her emotions, but it was more than that. The blackness moved and seeped into her and your aura lightened. Sounds crazy speaking it out loud." She muttered.

"That's what it felt like too." I told her. Because it was the truth. I had felt the darkness leave me, I _felt_ lighter.

"Really?" she asked. We were both being articulate.

"Yah, I could feel myself pulling all the… hate, rage, anger, death out of me and pushing it into her. When it was done, I could see it on her for a few minutes before I regained myself. It was like I gave her my demons. I gave her back the emotional shit she'd given me for years. I'm not sure how it happened. I've never done that before. But when it was done… I didn't feel the pull anymore either." I whispered.

"Pull," She growled and leaned back to look at me with a frown.

"There's a pull to your Sire. Ask Peter about it. He and I've talked about it before. It's different than the mating pull. It's on a shallower level than what I have with you. But when Beast took over it seemed to be stronger. I guess maybe because Maria not only was my Sire, but how Beast really came to be what he is. He took control and I could do nothing to stop him."

"So you could feel her pulling you in the jet? Is that why you jumped?" I felt the pain and hurt radiate from her.

"No, I don't think so. I jumped because Beast saw her being taken down. It enraged him. Years and years of programming is hard to break, especially for a vampire. It was more instinct than anything. But, once I hit the ground and started running, I could feel her. When I got to camp I found her by that pull."

"I see," She wasn't happy. I didn't blame her one bit. I'd struggled to stop Beast the entire time.

"I'm sorry, darlin. You have no idea how sorry I am. Once you and Beast had our confrontation out in the hall, he fought with himself going in. I don't know why you did what you did, but Beast remembered you because you gave him something to ground himself with. Your scent brought some sense back to him. Maria… she smelled the same and different. It repulsed me. Repulsed him," that made my mate happy, "then I saw her… and Beast woke up to a new crazy.

"I don't know if it would have happened the same if you hadn't gave us your scent to focus on. To ground us. I like to think Beast would have pulled his head out eventually. But needless to say Beast didn't want to be near her. I definitely didn't want to be near her. I hated her. Beast and I wanted her to feel the pain she'd given us for all those years. Beast wanted her to taste what it felt like to have the burden of all the pain she'd given us for so many long. The rage built up and I just released it all." I shook my head, "It was like a physical pain released in me and I couldn't stop pushing it all on her."

"And the pull is gone?" Isabella made sure.

"Yah, it's gone, darlin'. All of it. Whatever happened severed the line between her and me." I assured her.

She grinned and the relief she felt was palpable.

Her hand came up and wiped the wet hair out of my face.

"You seem… I don't know… younger? That's not it, but something. You're you… but without… I don't know."

I laughed. I was free. I kissed her.

"Are you ok?" I asked putting my forehead to hers.

"More than ok. You scared me. Don't do that shit again." She said between kisses to my face. "I was a little crazy myself. It took monumental effort to let you go when you were tied up in the tunnel. You do that shit again I'll tie you up forever. But I had to know. I had to know what would happen. I don't ever want to feel that pain again." She said and the sadness in her voice killed me. I had hurt her.

"I won't. I promise. I love you. I'm sorry. But the good thing is, I think Beast is completely into you." I snickered, "I'm sorry you have to put up with all my baggage." I didn't know how the woman before me kept me in line, but I would treasure it for eternity as corny as that sounded.

"Really? Yah think he is?" She gave me a salacious grin. "I love you, too. But I'm serious with those threats." She dropped the grin to stare me down. I knew if it happened again, things would go completely different.

"I know ya are and I'll hold ya to them, and yah - I do know Beast respects and recognizes you fully now," I said kissing her forehead and sighing with my own relief, knowing full well he did. He would have killed her the first time he turned around if he hadn't. He'd recognized her. I ran my lips down her neck, finding my mating scar on her skin. I nipped it and felt her responding purr shudder through me.

"I love you." I whispered to her.

"I love _you_." She said as she moved my head for access to her mating scar on my neck. I purred in response at her ministrations.

"I wish we had time for this, but there's some things that happened while you were… 'Dealing' with Maria," She told me.

"How do you know that?"

"Nevell slipped me his ear piece before I jumped from the jet. I've been listening to clean-up and Mac's Place."

"Ok. Let me have it. What's the damage." It was kind of a relief to switch topics.

"Well, where to start. In the navigating to defend the Compound we lost the satellite tail on the last three helicopters from the Giant Island. Last known, they were in Siberia somewhere. He's starting the search there. Eleazar called during the chaos, we're scheduled for a meeting with him." She went on updating me on the recent battle and what had happened while I was freeing myself from Maria.

"We need to join the clean-up. It's taken some time to sift through the remains. We don't want to burn something someone needs." She said.

"Alright." I agreed reluctantly. Something to give me a distraction from thinking about the last couple of hours.

"Are you up for it?" She asked warily.

"Actually, I feel better than I have… ever. And that's saying something considering how I felt after I married you, Mrs. Whitlock." I joked, but I knew she knew that I was serious.

"That's good to hear, Mr. Whitlock. Come on, let's go help." She pulled me out of the water.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

We leapt through the sheet of cascading water and Izzy told Mac, via the COM she'd snagged before she followed me out of the jet, that we were going to help clean up. He said he'd let the others know.

We spent the next few hours looking for body parts and getting food for the wounded. Putting pieces back together, and tearing bodies apart. The valley filled with smoke… the smell of battle won, filling the air.

We'd lost two ghouls, two vampires and a dhampir. The camp grieved and rejoiced in one breath. It could have been so much worse. I felt like I had let them down in that we hadn't helped in the battle.

Peter told me to knock it off with the guilt, he said it could have gone differently if I'd shown up sooner, before Maria had been taken captive. I thought about that long and hard. He was probably right. Who knew what could have happened. I more than likely could have easily fought on her side as against her. Peter was right; I could've killed our own instead of the enemy. I stopped feeling bad.

In the end there were only half a dozen kept alive from Maria's crew and they were locked up in the underground city safe and sound.

The _past seer_ had lost her life. She was ghoul, believe it or not. Isabella said it was rare that ghouls had any gifts at all. They were few and far between and that could, more than likely, account for the lack of information the _past seer_ was able to put forth.

The _past seer's_ head had been taken off… there was no coming back from that for a ghoul. Every body part on a ghoul could grow back except the head. She was a lost cause.

Emmett and Rose helped both in battle and clean up. I was told by the sentry crew they were with, that they'd done well. Especially Emmett. They talked to us for a while, telling us that they wanted to go with Eleazar, but they wouldn't mind coming back to train. Emmett said he was seriously thinking about joining our ranks. Rosalie, not so much. I had a feeling that Emmett was going to win this battle. Rosalie's emotions were subservient. Emmett was taking control of his life. It looked good on him.

Izzy told them that Rosalie didn't have to join in the sentry guard if she didn't want to, she could join the wives and husbands that stayed behind at camp. Rosalie perked up slightly at that news. She said she wasn't averse to helping, just not fighting.

I was a little surprised. I figured Rosalie would want to fight given her past. I'd lived with her for so many years, and although I was probably closer to her than the others, I was finding I didn't really know her at all. But she was adamant that fighting wasn't for her.

Izzy at some point went to call her dad.

Before the ceremony of our vows, she had called her father to tell him the news. I had talked to him briefly before asking him for her hand. He actually threatened me. Considering he was a friend of the wolves, I took him seriously. He said he was sorry he couldn't be there, but maybe we could tape it for him. He did obviously give his blessing. We did tape the ceremony and Mac sent the wolves and her dad a copy. The wolves weren't equipped and didn't want to be equipped with the technology we had and so her dad couldn't watch live like the others had.

Her dad had called to tell her he'd gotten the tape so she went to call him back.

Isabella told me that Eleazar had called, telling us that he'd made headway with Liam. He wouldn't give details until we were all together to hear it. He said we had time to play with. He also told us that he was actually disappointed that he'd missed the fun. I wondered when was the last time he'd even had to fight, other than a little skirmish here and there.

We were scheduled to have a phone conference with him within the hour.

My head slowly acquired the balance and semblance of gravity. It felt like I was coming back online. If anyone noticed my disorientation, no one said anything. Izzy threw me concerned glances every now and then, but never said anything. Her constant love through our bond never wavered.

By the time we got back underground, Mac had a pile of shit to go over with us.

They were still looking for the Giants. I told him that Eleazar, more than likely, could give us some insight into that.

We got caught up and soon we were in the Command Room, waiting for Eleazar to grace us on the monitor.

"You're really going to leave Maria prisoner? Why don't you just kill her," I was slightly surprised that Edward would ask.

He and Nevell were already in the room when we entered, and Nevell had been showing him around.

I answered him, "Yes. She'll be a prisoner until I see fit to kill her. Why, you want a piece of her? Want to try to read her mind?"

He choked, "No, I don't want a piece of her, just surprised you didn't kill her outright. If you want, I could try to read her mind."

I scrutinized him for a moment, "I'll let you know." I told him. I had plans for a long torturous future for Maria.

He nodded.

Eleazar popped up on the monitor screen and we turned our attention to him.

"It is good to see you all in one piece!" Eleazar smiled from ear to ear, "I have much news for you. I think it will continue your good moods."

"Tell us, Eleazar, don't leave us in suspense like this, it'll give me heartburn." Peter snarked and rubbed his sternum.

Eleazar laughed, "You wanted to know about the Games, I have_… obtained_ some information for you. Liam was… resistant to giving information, but through _persuasion_ I convinced him of the benefits of sharing."

I could only imagine what Eleazar meant by that. I snickered and Eleazar smiled with a Cheshire grin.

"Liam has informed me that the Games are scheduled nine days from today. There are only coordinates as way of location to said Games. No one will know the exact coordinates until the last minute. Anyone involved in the actual participation of the Games themselves, gets a two-day head start to get settled before observers and gamblers are given directions. Those who will merely watch and bet on the Games get two days to get there. This gives 4 days total before the Games even begin.

Nine days. No one said anything, so Eleazar continued, "That gives us a total of five days from today before the first coordinates go out to the first wave of attendees. This time they are in Siberia. Good news is, Liam has the coordinates since he is Royalty to the games."

"So we have five days to get there and stop this madness," Peter growled.

Eleazar shook his head, "Wait, please, until I finish before you start making plans. The Giants you are tracking are being moved in first to set up security before anyone else moves in. As of this moment, anyone who shows up before the given times they are supposed to, will be executed on sight. They are very strict, very secretive. Liam is scheduled to move out in five days. He has told me that there are helicopters in the nearest cities to the location, to transport attendees. You are allowed to come by your own means of transportation, however, you must give precise times of when you are to arrive and who will be accompanying you.

"Liam has his own transportation as does all Royalty. There will be a camp set up outside the arena to house fighters, security, gamblers and owners. They are all kept in different sections depending on who you are. I'm sure you can deduce why this is.

"Opening day is to be nine days from today, as I told you." Eleazar continued, pausing between the new information chunks he gave us. Letting us absorb one before giving more.

"Liam has been most _gracious_ in allowing you to replace his six fighters with ones of your own. You get six fighters and a medic. The medic does not fight, they are only allowed to heal his own group's injuries only. Liam has entered both individual and team fighting events; you must follow this if you choose to fight. Anything else will bring suspicion and immediate disqualification and death. No matter who you are. Liam is not above the rules. He can persuade, but all Royalty, for the most part, must follow the Game Rules. No exceptions."

I held my hand up, stopping him, "You're saying we have to go in as fighters?"

"I'm saying it's your best chance to get anywhere near the event. Whether you fight or not is up to you." Eleazar told us solemnly.

"If we chose to go, we can't take more than seven people? Is that what you're telling me," Peter wasn't happy.

"Yes." Eleazar nodded.

Well, fuck. "Liam can't bring more than his fighters?" I asked.

"Yes and no, you have to register your fighters and guests before you come. Anyone caught not on the list will be dismembered and taken before Royalty, upon their judgment they most likely would execute whoever disobeyed the rules."

"How far out does their security go?" I asked. There had to be a way to get in more than seven people. What the hell would we do with seven people against probable hundreds? Other than get ourselves killed?

"They have a two hundred mile radius in which they secure before the Games. They have already secured it. Think of it this way; it's like a target board. The outer rim having the least amount of security, the next sector toward the arena has more and then the next has even more, until you get to the Arena itself and it is guarded better than Fort Knox. Better than the Queen's jewels. Being as secluded as they are, they are able to keep a tight grip on that area. They patrol by helicopter and by ground. Once Royalty arrives, all airways are a no fly zone, except for authorized flights. They scrutinize it around the clock." Eleazar said sadly.

"So we can't move in without them knowing we're there." I stated rather than asked, thinking out loud. This was no good. Even with Mac's technology, there wasn't a way we could run 200 miles without being detected. It would take too many of us to attack sufficiently to be any threat, or to sneak up on them. All we would end up doing is end up dead. There had to be a way to get more than seven of us in there.

"No." Eleazar answered, "They are very tight. Liam has informed me that over the years, Alice was part of that security, without her, they are even more on guard. They know she is dead, via Maria. This is also some information you will be interested in."

"This outta' be good," Isabella remarked.

Eleazar nodded, "You are correct in that Maria had a _past seer_. She was a ghoul however, and had limited ability. The _past seer_ did see Alice dying, and Jasper being taken. Maria has known that someone was watching them for some time now. That was why she so easily took your sentry hostage. She informed Heidi, who in turn informed Vladimir and Stefan of this. Word got out quickly to the Royalty that they could be under attack. Heidi was sent to retrieve Maria before she could do something stupid and get herself killed. They know that the Major is alive and believe he is being held against his will."

"Didn't they see me mated to Isabella?" I asked incredulous.

"Yes, but Maria would not believe it. This works in your favor. If what Liam is telling me is the truth, then there a couple of flaws. Maria's _past seer_ tried to tell them that you were not being held against your will. That the Major was mated now to a woman in leathers who wielded a sword. Maria wouldn't believe it. She convinced Heidi, once the _past seer_ found where your Fortress was, to go in on a rescue mission to save the Major. Heidi relented. She even sent Maria with some of her own guard to help in Maria's plight.

"The army you just destroyed was part of the Volturi and Heidi's own personal guard." He informed us. That wasn't good news.

"How does that help us?" I couldn't make the connection with how this information was to help, rather than hinder. Cause all I saw was more problems in the near future.

"Well, beyond that Maria is no longer a threat, they don't really know what you look like. Any of you. The past seer was no help in that department. Maria was the last one to know what the Major looked like. They do know what Izzy looks like, but only by description, that could easily be overcome. Heidi may know what you look like, but I doubt it. She would have a description of any of you, especially anyone who ever came in contact with Alice or Maria. But from what Liam has told me, they don't know that Peter and Charlotte are _Peter and Charlotte_. Nevell, is just another dhampir to them."

"So you're saying we can't attack them. We'll have to go into the Games to even get close. And you're saying that if we disguise ourselves, then we might be able to get away with joining the Games." Peter verified.

Join the Games? Not that we hadn't thought about this as being a possibility, but it was a last resort. Looking at it from the angles Eleazar gave us, it would seem that a last resort was the only way we were going to get anywhere close.

"We're going to have to discuss this, Eleazar. Going in not knowing if we'll be recognized or not… that's a risk I'm not sure we're willing to take. Only being able to have seven of us there, makes this a suicide mission. We can't do anything with seven people against the amount of security they have." Isabella told him.

"Not only that, but even if we tried to make a dent in their endeavors, it's not going to stop them from continuing. The whole point of this is to stop this activity, not join them. What are we going to actually accomplish from going?" Nevell's concerns joined Isabella's and from the feel of the room, these things were weighing heavy.

"I understand, but I want you to think about something," Eleazar told us, "Even if you dropped an atomic bomb on this charade, it will start again. It will not stop the Labs from existing. But if you go in there and pretend to be Liam's fighters, you could learn more information from anyone. If you take Edward, he could pick their minds. You could find out where these training facilities are located. There is a barrage of information you could obtain. I'm not condoning joining them. I would have to seriously think your sanity has left you if you did that. But you have fought to find information for years, here is your chance to obtain just that."

"I could do that. I will do it if you want," Edward promised.

We all turned to him as he stood, boldly staring back. He lifted his chin up, "I could be the medic."

"How do you figure?" Peter snorted.

"I have a couple of degrees in medicine, and I AM vampire. Besides, while you're all fighting, I can concentrate on reading minds to see if anyone recognizes us. It won't give a big advantage, but maybe it's a head start to get the fuck out of there alive and intact."

"So you want to go with us?" Charlotte turned to the rest of us, "I know we've given some leeway here," she glanced at Edward to make her point, "but do we trust this one with having our backs when it comes to life or death?"

"I have a lot to make up for. I've fucked up. In more ways than one, in more ways than I can count. I won't mess this up. This would help you and prove that I'm not just some emo-bitch in need of babysitting." His eyes slid to Nevell.

"You know if you do go and somethin' happens to us makin' it so we don't get out, and you make it out of there without us, you're a dead man." Peter convolutedly told him.

"You don't have to tell me that. I know." Edward gritted and his determination ampted up, "If you guys don't make it out, neither do I. I know what you think of me Peter, and I can't change that with words. All I can do is _show_ you that I will do anything I can to make it up to all of you." Edward's words were just as determined as his emotions.

It was obvious we needed to discuss this at more length.

Leaving Edward's words hanging, I turned back to Eleazar, "Is there more information, anything you think would help us?"

"No. Do not take too long to decide what you will do." He warned.

"What are you going to do, Eleazar?" Izzy asked him.

"Ah, this is something I must think about. I do have more information for you. Remember it was suspected that Rosalie was there in place of someone else? She was. I would bet money that it is why Vladimir came to see Alice in her tent. Liam says he is the other member of the Royalty. Vladimir was very angry at being pushed out at the last minute. No one knows how Alice got him to relent his position in the Box of Royalty. But she did, and it was allowed that Rosalie would be in his stead."

"That confirms some things. It would make sense why he was so pissed. I wonder what she had on him." Isabella said.

"I do not know, it was something that was between Alice and Vladimir. He actually presented his absent position as being volunteered. Bringing us to this; it seems that Liam may bring guests with him to the event. I may wear a hooded robe and attend the event without being known. I wish to attend. Carmen has other ideas of course. She does not want me anywhere near the Games. But I am adamant about this. If I do not go, then I will be sending Garrett in my place." I just bet Carmen didn't want him to go. If she didn't want him to go, then he wouldn't.

"He can only bring one guest?" Isabella asked.

"Yes. It is a condition of the Rules. It cuts down and limits the amount of damage that can be done to them. It also makes it plausible for them to kill the guest and disguise it as something else. Hence the reason Carmen does not want me to attend." Eleazar huffed.

"I don't blame her. Is Kate going to be okay with Garrett going?" I asked him.

"No, probably not. But they will not disobey me. Carmen has reminded me that Garrett would have a better time fitting in than I would. I must admit that she is right. I will have to give it some thought and talk to Garrett and Kate about this. We have asked them to join us already, here at Liam's. They have been told to speak nothing to the sisters where they are going, and they have agreed. We will not tell them anything until they arrive." Eleazar assured us.

He was taking precautions to his promises to not let Irina know anything. I could appreciate that. He wasn't being stupid about this.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No. I think I got everything. Please make a decision quickly. I will not be going if you decide to not go," A snarl in the background that sounded suspiciously like Carmen had Eleazar back peddling, "If you do not go I will not be sending anyone either."

We all tried to hold in our laughter. Eleazar could be the biggest bad ass he wanted, but he was just like the rest of us when it came to his mate, whipped. He would listen to her and send Garrett if we decided to go, that I was sure of.

"Fair enough. We'll call you when we come up with a plan." Peter said, Eleazar nodded and the connection was cut.

"We go." Isabella said.

"I agree." Peter said.

"We need to come up with the seventh person. I can't imagine anyone here not wanting to go, am I right?" Peter asked.

Everyone shook their heads. We were all in, and I guess that meant Edward was going. It would be stupid to not take him. He would actually be the only reason we could go. Walking in there was going to be suicide.

"This is only going to be for information gatherin'. Nothing else." Charlotte warned.

"We have to fight in the Games," Nevell reminded her.

"Well there's that. It feels wrong that we've fought to keep people from goin' and now we're jumpin' in with both feet. We're goin' to have to get information from Liam's fighters. We'll have to know what to expect and then we'll have to train with each other. Figure out which groups and individuals will fight and with whom." Peter rattled off.

"So, who's going to be our seventh?" I asked

"We could take Ivan. He's fast and smart as fuck. He's a great fighter," Nevell suggested.

"Yeah, and he's not mated. Whoever we take will have to not be mated." Peter added.

"There's Ivan, or there's Taggart," Char suggested.

"Taggart doesn't use his head all that much sometimes. His control is less and he doesn't have the experience that Ivan does. He is stronger than Ivan is though," Isabella mused.

"What about Jacob?" Nevell asked.

"He won't go without someone else from the tribe and there's only one spot open." Isabella supplied.

"Are you sure about that?" Peter asked.

"Positive, besides, I don't want anyone knowing who doesn't need to know, about the Quileute wolves." Isabella said sternly.

"That's true." Peter relented.

Names were thrown on the table and all I could do was listen. I didn't know enough about the other sentry to make any kinda' guess who to take. That was frustrating. Ivan was good, I trusted the man. I'd spent the most time with him. He was a good guy and a hell of a fighter from the little I'd seen. He was a thinker. He'd be good.

They went through a list of people and in the end it was decided to talk to Ivan. They sent for him as we went on to other topics.

"So I take it we're going for sure?" Nevell asked, although it was more of an observation.

"I don't see how we have another choice. We can't pass up the opportunity," Isabella, always the one ready to jump into shit. She was so much like me when it came to fighting. Always up to spill venom. I had to smile at that.

"We need to figure out what to do with Mexico." Peter frowned.

"We do as we planned on the jet-" Isabella started.

"YOU, planned on the jet." Peter reminded her.

"Whatever," She waved him off, "We've been compromised here. We send a skeleton crew with loaded down jets, take everything important, and drop it off. That will give Mac enough time to be ready to go when they get back to take the last load. It won't be the optimum way to do this, but it's our best option." She voiced.

Peter sighed, "Yeah, I guess it is. WHERE are we going to set up?"

"I can help with that," Mac interrupted as the door hissed open and he strolled in, "Our guys just called from Rucker's. They've been out with the scouts. How would you guys feel about setting up next to Rucker? He had his guides show our guys a place not too far from him. The ruins he suggested are pretty much destroyed, but from the pictures they sent, it has potential. I just got off the phone with Rucker and he's willing to give us access to his bunkers while we get situated."

"Bunkers?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess you guys didn't get the full tour." He grinned.

"We didn't really get any tour," I frowned. I liked the idea of being close to an old acquaintance. I think Isabella liked him too.

"Well, he's got a place, not too far from the bar, that he has for people hiding from Maria." Mac caught us up, "There were about twenty people who'd taken up permanent residence there. With the news that Maria is incapacitated, they were all too happy to get out and get on with their lives or go find family that Maria had taken. Or something to that effect. It sounds like we're not going to have to do much where cleaning up the rest of Maria's troops is concerned. Enough people have gathered up and joined forces to take care of them for us. It began even before you left down there. Point being, Rucker's going to let us use it for now. It's a cave, with the basics. Nothing fancy. We can store our shit there for now. He says he owns a building in a town on the edge of the mountain range that he keeps for when he hunts and for whatever else. He owns the building. He's going to let me use it to set up our technology shit there."

"Is it big enough? Do you have enough time to get there and get set up?" I asked.

"Yes and Oh, yeah. From what he says it's a four-story apartment complex that's been torn apart and renovated into a house of sorts. Plenty of room for a lot of us to stay. The rest of us can stay with Rucker and hang out at the bar. He was pretty excited that his revenue is going to be going up. We're good on the time frame, it'll be close, but I've got a great team, so I'm not worried about it." He was excited.

"I bet he was," Peter laughed, "Make sure you keep our sentry on their toes and don't let them get into too much trouble. If there's already uprisings going on, we'll be in the crosshairs. You're going to be busy with us, we'll be hopefully taking Ivan, maybe Josh and Jamie can help you with keeping our sentry together."

"That would be a load off actually," Mac nodded, agreeing, and then was off to the next, "Everyone will listen to them too. The jets are being loaded now. It'll take months to get everything out of here. I don't think we should leave anything behind. Not knowing who knows we're here could end up deadly." Mac said.

"Yeah. And we don't want to leave any of this shit just lyin' around. But for now, until the Games are over, just take the personal shit. All the buildings and shit leave behind. We can tear it down later and haul it off for donations or somethin'. Maybe Eleazar or Carmen would know someone who wanted it." Charlotte suggested.

"Seems like such a waste. I'm going to miss this place." Isabella sighed and leaned into me as I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head.

"I know," Peter dramatically sighed along with her, "Lot a good memories here, but we can't afford to stay here now." Peter's agreement brought a snort and a raised eyebrow from Isabella.

"You were ready to rip my head off, telling me we were staying." She snarked.

"That was just to argue and keep ya' all from fucking like the fuckers ya' are," Peter told her, but no one was buying the bullshit he was shovelin'. Isabella reached out and smacked him.

"As far as Maria goes," I added, "Leave her to me. I'll make sure she can be transported with a little more ease," I was looking forward to makin' her into packages more manageable.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**SEE? It all worked out. If you didn't read the upper A/N… there's some words for thought up there you should check out.**

**I loved all your guys' words you gave me for last chapter! Thank you for sharing them with me. **

**We're going to be hearing from Izzy and Monstress again, soon. She's got some stuff to say. You might understand a little better what Izzy was really going through when Beast was out to play.**

**Things are going to progress a little rapidly from here on out.**

**Lol, more so than usual. We're moving on from this little drama**

**And gettin' to some nitty gritty. **

**Next chapter will be next Thursday….**

**Please leave me your wordy thoughts. **

**;)**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N**

**We're moving right along. I don't know how many more chapters there are going to be. A few. A lot. Lol… this story is taking on a life of it's own and I just can't tell ya. We still have a lot of ground to cover.**

**A huge thank you to Bripearl and LetsJustDance for putting their beta magic on this for me.**

**As always… thank you for all the reviews. I MADE 600! so thrilled with that! It feels like you guys are really getting into this! I never thought this story would get this much attention, but I love it!**

**Ok… on with the story….**

_**Previously;**_

"_I know," Peter dramatically sighed along with her, "Lot a good memories here, but we can't afford to stay here now." Peter agreed with her and Isabella gave him a snarky snort and a raised eyebrow._

"_You were ready to rip my head off, telling me we were staying."_

_"That was just to argue and keep ya' all from fucking like the fuckers ya' are," Peter told her, but no one was buying the bullshit he was shovelin'. Isabella reached out and smacked him._

_"As far as Maria goes," I added, "Leave her to me. I'll make sure she can be transported with a little more ease," I was looking forward to makin' her into packages more manageable._

**~WATCH ME~**

**~JPOV~**

Walking into the interrogation room for the third time, I stepped in warily. Beast didn't force himself up and I was left with Major staring through my eyes. Beast for the first time in his existence, slept.

Maria raised her head slowly. Her venom loss was greatly diminished. Her arms barely seeped. Her eyes peered at me and there was little focus in their black depths.

I smirked. Seeing her helpless gave me great satisfaction. It was gratifying.

The bindings around her head slipped away as Isabella entered the room behind me. Turning to her I felt her own pleasure as her eyes met mine. My calm demeanor told her all she needed to know. I was in control.

"So, Maria," I faced her now, "What can you tell us about the Games?"

"Fuck you." She spat.

"Not nice. You might as well know we're goin' in your place." I half lied.

"You won't get away with it." She tipped her head back on the wall as if she could no longer hold it up.

"Why not? Surely they would rather me be there than you. I have the right, do I not? I have taken over the South."

Maria's body stiffened, her eyes bugging out before she pulled her shock back, "You can't just walk in there. They know you killed Alice. They'll kill you, fool."

"They don't know who I am though, do they? You and Alice left my identity a secret. Neither of you were willing to give me up to them. Neither of you were willin' to use me, so you left my identity a secret. Won't it be such a surprise when they figure it out?"

I'd taken some shots in the dark. I wasn't sure if any of that was true, but her silence let me know I had hit the mark. It made sense really. Alice took me away from Maria I was sure, to put me in the Games or to train their creations. Then Alice got greedy. Hell maybe she'd even thought she was in love with me. Probably not, but I didn't know the real reason. I spent a hundred years in the south perfecting my debauchery and gift. She stole me away and did nothing with me.

I waited to see if Maria would say anything and when it seemed she wouldn't I dug in further, "No, I didn't think so. I will tell them that I killed Major Jasper Whitlock and they will never know the truth. Not until I slit their throats. Do you think I should tell them before I spit on their Pyres?"

"You won't get away with it," I had to strain to hear her, "I'm so thirsty." She ground out on vocal cords of sawdust. Burning sawdust, if I remembered correctly, and that's something you just don't forget. How many times had this bitch made me starve?

"Yah, that sucks. Thirst is a bitch isn't it Maria? The pain should be right up your alley." I'd cut off my gift to her before I even had walked the tunnel down here, but now I opened it up and was surprised at the dullness I found.

Pain, pure pain. But she was so far gone, even that was dry. She was completely dehydrated.

Draining usually took longer, but the exertion she'd put forth when I gave her the shit storm of dissoluteness, used up any reserve she had. She lay limp and depleted against the wall.

"I'll tell you what, Maria, I'll feed you, hell I'll even give you your arms back, if you tell me what the other Royalties know," I lied again. I think I could spend years tormenting her and never get bored. Never.

"Fuck you."

"No thanks. Are you thirsty, Maria?" My voice low and rich. Isabella slid to the wall and leaned against it on my left. She crossed her arms over her chest and bent her leg up under her looking at the floor trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

"No." Maria snarled.

"You don't want some rich hot _human _blood?" I egged her on.

It took longer for her to answer this time. She swallowed several times before she could use her voice, "No."

"We have several humans here. I could bring several scared, screaming, fear induced juicy hot humans in here and let you pick." I watched her try to swallow again. There wasn't even enough venom now to help her with the process. "I saw them just a few minutes ago before I came down here to see you. There're some young ones. Untainted blood. Pure like heaven. Thick, warm and smooth."

I'd dropped my voice down to soothing tones, lulling her. I'd be surprised if she even knew it was me offering her what she was dying to have right now.

Thirst like this made you crazy. At this point, this kind of thirst could make a vampire hallucinate. You knew nothing but the thirst. I should know, Maria had done this exact same thing to me many times. Turning the tables was liberating. I felt no guilt whatsoever. Using her tactics against her was… momentous and a striking occurrence in my existence.

She felt nothing but the drought that had taken over her entire body. She wouldn't be able to think around it.

I turned to the mirror behind me and nodded. Peter was opening the door within seconds handing me a bag of blood. Instead of leaving he backed up next to Isabella, taking up the same pose.

I turned back to Maria, her eyes were closed and her head hung down. Staying where I was I popped the top connecter thingy off the top of the bag. Peter had been kind enough to warm up the bag and when the top came off the smell of rich hot blood swarmed the room.

Maria growled low and dry, but she didn't lift her head.

"Tell me Maria, what does Royalty know about Izzy? The braided haired woman? My mate." I ground out in command, "You tell me, you may have the richness you smell."

She gagged and tried to speak. Nothing came out. Fuck, she was too far gone.

I waited anyway. Some sick part of me danced with satisfaction at her situation.

I turned to Izzy and held up the bag in silent question, she shook her head and Peter huffed, "You have to Izzy," He told her, "I can't do it and she'll die if he does. You know you won't let the bitch live if he feeds her."

Isabella made to growl at us mockingly but came forward to take the bag from me. She approached Maria, grabbed her hair pulling the bitch's head back and poured about a cup of blood in Maria's slack mouth.

Maria gagged again but managed to only lose a little and as she tried to swallow it all at once. Isabella flitted to the wall again.

"Tell me, Maria. Tell me what Royalty knows about Izzy." I directed again.

She swallowed, licking her lips looking for more. Her eyes were open but they rolled around her their sockets crazily, "They don't know anything, please, more!" she begged, "so thirsty."

"No, not until you tell me what I want to know," I told her.

"They don't know anything," then she laughed, "Alice… they didn't know who you are." she sputtered. "Please, please, please." She begged as her eyes shut and her head bobbed.

"What do you want Maria? Please what? Let me hear you beg." I hissed low and soothingly a demand she had made to me many more times than I could count.

"Cock sucker."

"Not nice. Tsk, Tsk." I laughed at her.

She chanted expletives and curses in Spanish at me until her vocal cords no longer worked again.

A tap on the glass behind me drew my attention.

"She's too far gone, man," Edward's voice echoed from behind the two-way mirror.

I shrugged, "It doesn't matter anyway, I'm done for now."

Grabbing her head with both hands I twisted it off. Her legs came next.

Taking her a part was such a simple unshackling, but oh so gratifying.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=)**

Zafrina came up during discussions. I didn't know enough about the situation, but they couldn't decide whether to tell her or not. Their feelings were that she would want to join in. If they didn't tell her they could lose her as an ally. In the end they, voted to tell her.

She wasn't happy. It took even longer to persuade her not to stick her nose in it. She was too far away and we needed to move now. She yelled, threatened and smashed her hands into the chair she sat in, breaking it to pieces.

She eventually relented to Izzy's whims. She would not be involved but if we all ended up dead she could do whatever she pleased to avenge our deaths. I couldn't believe she relented on that note. Woman was a bit crazy.

Eleazar gave us access to another one of his jets. This one, he said, was the smallest of his leer jets. He said it was faster and we could land in a smaller airport. We took him up on it. He'd traveled to Ireland on our helicopters with our ghouls and we were sending our jets to Mexico.

Ivan was all for going with us. He was pumped. He reminded me so much of Emmett in his enthusiasm. More mature, but similar. I had missed Emmett. He and Rosalie were on this flight with us. They would be staying with Eleazar, giving him some personal muscle if he needed it. Eleazar didn't want to bring in his own people just yet, and he didn't trust Liam's people in the slightest. Too much was on the line; for us and for him. Emmett agreed to Eleazar's wishes, concluding it was like bodyguard work. Rosalie was getting better. But it seemed that Emmett had taken charge overnight, and she was simply going along for the ride

She hadn't argued with Emmett at all.

Arm candy.

Edward snorted and tried to hide his laugh. I raised an eyebrow at him and he returned the gesture, shooting a snappy look at Rosalie and back, I realized he'd caught my thoughts. I smirked.

"What's so funny," Charlotte asked eyeing us.

We were all sitting around the lounge on the jet in what had become our usual choice of seats, no matter whose jet we were on. It was our home in the sky; I'd been in the air just as much as I'd been on the ground it seemed the last couple of weeks. Izzy and I sat together by the outside door in a plush chair together. Peter and Charlotte sat to our right toward the middle on a loveseat, to their right sat Edward and Nevell in two single chairs. Emmett and Rosalie sat across from us on another loveseat. Ivan had pulled one of the plush chairs from the back of the jet and sat between Peter and us.

"Nothing," Edward shook his head and looked down hiding his smirk.

Char rolled her eyes.

It was different this go around, there were no monitors now, no communication. Before we'd left, Mac had produced new equipment for us. We couldn't very well have any kind of device showing on us that would give us away that we were talking to the outside world. Or that could be potentially be pulled off during a fight. So Mac had rigged us with something I thought was crazy.

Instead of ear COM's on the outside, they were now inside our ears. He'd put in two buttons under the skin inside our ears, a receiver and a microphone. They were almost microscopic. Peter had gone first. It took them a couple of trial and errors to get it right. He bitched the entire time, but by the time they got it in, it was a piece of cake to apply it to the rest of us.

In addition they put in two more buttons in our earlobe itself, placing two more devices. One turned on the COM's and one turned them off. From the outside you saw nothing, could hear nothing. Individually we could hear and talk to Mac now without any problems. Eleazar or Garrett – whoever won the coin toss - would carry the transmitter with them, disguised as a watch.

As long as we were within 100 miles of that watch, we would be able to communicate with Mac when our 'ears' were turned on.

Isabella got a special lecture about leaving her COM on unless we were being intimate. She'd tried to deny it, but no one was having it. It was well known, it seemed, she was famous for leaving the COM's off.

This flight ended up being filled with stories and good cheer banter. The horizon held unknowns and we chose the easygoing camaraderie, letting the future go for a little while.

Ivan was excited to be going home, well close to home anyway. He told us tales of what he remembered of his human life - very little as it was - and then how he had become a vampire and his travels since. He was old. Robert the Bruce old. No wonder the fucker could fight like he could. He'd been a warrior in human years and it transferred flawlessly to this life. I was happier by the minute they chose him to go with us. I couldn't believe they'd thought to take anyone else.

He said going home just wasn't the same as it used to be. He had a permanent home in Scotland and invited us there when all this shit was done. We landed at the Glasgow Airport. It was smaller and customs was a lot easier to slide through. Having a private jet had it's benefits. Our own helicopter waited for us when we landed. It took us to Ireland, leaving the jet behind. I wasn't sure why we had to go to Ireland by way of Scotland, but I didn't ask. Leave that shit to the experts.

I wasn't even sure where exactly we were going. Liam's coven lived on the outskirts of Stewartstown. But we were going to one of his vacation homes. It was secluded and we wouldn't be having problems with humans.

When we landed Liam and Eleazar were there to greet us. Liam's reaction would have been comical if it hadn't been directed at my mate.

He was scared shitless. The fear he tried to hide didn't go overlooked by the non-empaths in the group either. We all noticed. Isabella being Isabella walked right up to him and introduced herself, then turned and introduced the rest of us. I finally had to push him some calm because he was on fight or flight mentality.

He stopped shaking and greeted us, welcoming us and extending his help in any way he could. Peter jumped right in.

"Ya could start by givin' our people the names and places of any labs or training facilities that ya know of. Then you can send us the seven preternatural that ya planned on sendin' to the Games and have 'em meet us. We need to get this show on the road."

Liam looked ashen, but nodded numbly and led us to the house. He and Eleazar were here alone. That was good. I didn't feel like being entertained or having arguments with his coven. We had few short days before we had to leave; we needed to 'get this show on the road' as Peter so eloquently put it.

The helicopter ride in had been extraordinary. The landscape was beautiful and I found myself wishing we had more time here. Lush green rolling hills surrounded us and I wanted to explore. Being on the ground now with the fog settled around the foothills gave the impression that the outside world no longer existed.

His house was modest set on a rocky hillside. Nothing even close to Eleazar's extravagance or to what the Cullen's had all been accustomed. It was decent-sized and quaint. I loved it instantly.

"My fighters will be here shortly. Eleazar already requested the information ye asked after, I'm getting it together for ye." Liam's voice was thick with anxiety making his brogue that much harder to understand.

"Good to know." Peter slapped him on the back making Liam visibly flinch.

It wasn't long before the seven fighters showed. We were still standing in Liam's front yard when they arrived. We hadn't even made it into the house yet.

I was knocked over by the size of them. A couple of them were huge, but smaller than the Giants. There was one who was so similar to the one who crushed Isabella I had to stop myself from growling at him. I did take a protective stance in front of my mate, much to my mate's endless amusement. Liam explained that they were new to his institution. He'd lost the last fighters to Christopher in the spring Games.

I didn't realize I'd been expecting something different until after they got there.

"You don't have any Giants?" I asked Liam.

He looked startled by the question, "No, Giants are used only for security purposes."

"Bullshit," Rosalie hissed.

Liam looked even more startled. "I know what ye saw at the Games Rosalie, and what it may have looked like. But the only reason Giants fight is to prove to the crowd they are not to be messed with. They only fight to show their strength and place fear where needed." Through the thick brogue, we got the message.

"There may be a problem, I'm afraid," Liam continued, "I have made phone calls to substitute ye in, but ye will be watched closely. In order for ye to fight ye should have been introduced first in the last Games. I do not have to go through normal channels as others do because I'm part of the Sovereigns overseeing the Games themselves. Some of the other Sovereigns were not pleased with last minute changes, but they have allowed it."

"Ya introduced your seven fighters last time?" Peter asked.

"Yah. It is not _uncommon_ amongst us to do this. But in light of recent events it has made them wary. The others will want to meet you right off I'm afraid. They'll have questions," Liam's anxiety rocketed and I had to calm him again.

"Well, that's fuckin' great," Peter scoffed, "But I can't say as I'm surprised. I won't be sayin' a sorry for our part in their bein' wary."

Neither would I. We knew it would be tough going in.

"Tell us how the Games work," Isabella said, "Eleazar mentioned there are events that you've already entered into, can those be changed?"

"No. When ye enter an event ye put money down to hold your place. Ye must enter someone in the events ye choose. If ye do not enter an event ye selected, you must forfeit a fighter."

"Well that's not an option now, so what are we fightin' in?" Peter pushed.

"First two days events are individual. They are elimination rounds. 'Non-Gifted' and 'Gifted'. As I am sure Rosalie has told ye, they are to 'true death'. When those are done by the middle of Second day –The team events start. Those are a bit different.

"Ye may have six members on a team. There are two rounds of eliminations. You may put as many or as few fighters in each fight – up to the six. Say ye put four fighters in the first fight, and then ye may only enter two in the next. Ye do not know yar opponent until ye are in the ring. So ye must choose wisely. Most do three in each heat, unless they have one fighter who is believed to be able to take on more and then the number is lower. But that happens rarely.

"Ye must have at least four members of the team left to fight in the championship bracket after the elimination rounds to qualify to fight in the ending heat. Most put there fighters either in the team or individual, but not both. It'll be easier to explain as we go."

"Beginning of the Third day is for Sovereignty to hear grievances or vote on new members, that sort of thing. When that is over there is a small break. Humans and potential fighters are then shown in amateur fighting. Most fighters are there to be sold by de brokers. Giants will then come out and fight to show their proficiency and capabilities."

He let us soak up that information before he went on, "Rest of the Third day and all of the Fourth day is for the championships - individual fighters first, then teams. They stay separated into gifted and non-gifted to make the fights fairer for individual but not so for teams. In team competition it is mixed. You may have both, and if you donna know the fighters, you could be surprised. They donna let you know if they are or are not," Liam trailed off.

"What have you exactly entered in?" Peter asked again.

"I have entered two of my fighters in the individual fights, one is gifted and one is not. Then the team event." He was so quiet when he spoke and I wasn't getting why he was filled with dread. I watched him as he fidgeted. His emotions were one of fear and expectation. I was missing something.

To answer my unspoken thoughts Edward answered me, "He has entered the same fighters for individual as he did for the team event." Edward informed us.

"Yeah, he told us that, Einstein. Meaning?" Peter asked.

"Individuals, if not killed in the first day, and make it to the second and lose… are forfeit to the opponents' owner. If either gifted or non-gifted lose, the winner's owner - then owns them." Edward explained.

Emotions swept our little group and I forced everyone to calm down sending them enough lethargy so Edward could continue, he wasn't done telling us yet because what he was saying was clicking now as to why Liam was so wracked with anxiety. I knew there was more.

"The same rule applies to the team events. If we lose an event, ever, we are then owned by our opponents' owner," Edward scoffed, "But the catch is, in the last Championship round, if we make it that far, then all fighters fight, hurt or not, as long as you are not dead, you must be in the ring. It's never been done before. Usually they have team and individuals entered into events separately. Liam has entered into all three with the same fighters. There is no rule how many fighters you may enter. Liam has only entered six to fight."

"Winner takes all," Liam quietly said. He raised his chin up challenging us as he spoke, "If you move up the bracket, the losing fighter goes to the winning fighter's owner. That is if they are dead or not. Many have tried it before, but to no success. The odds are much higher and money wise... it is lucrative."

"What's never been done before?" Isabella asked.

"One team, with the same fighters in both, have never won all three Championships. They usually don't make it to the team championships because too many are eliminated before hand or the individual fighters lose and are no longer a member of the team. You have to have at least four fighters left, or you are forfeited and automatically are given to your opponent's owner." Edward explained.

No one uttered a breath. What a fool.

"Why now?" Charlotte whispered as she came around Peter and pushed her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they clung to each other. I felt Isabella's arms come around me and I held onto her arms tightly.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this," Nevell whispered.

"I think you should be the medic, I don't want ya fightin', Char," Peter murmured to her.

Char was already shaking her head, "No. I'm fightin'. I'm a better fighter than Edward is, and we need him to be in the pits and concentrating on what people are thinkin'."

"We aren't goin' to be owned by any one else," I said, "I won't let it happen."

"What happens if we refuse to go with the other owner?" Nevell asked Liam.

"That has never happened. It is death to the fighters who disobey. The fighters always choose life." Liam said grimly.

That's just fucking perfect. I rubbed my face with the palm of my hand and then dragged it through my hair. Not only were we going into this knowing it was a huge possibility one of us wasn't going to be coming home with us, but one of us or all of us could be going home with an owner. What the fuck had we bit off?

"What happens if ya don't bring anyone to the Games, if you decide not to have fighters?" Peter said crossing his arms.

"At this juncture, with the way everything has happened and I already called to say I was changing fighters… they wouldn't hesitate to send a security team to just eliminate what they would see as a threat." Liam's voice broke.

"So who's doing what?" Isabella asked us, "I say Jasper and I do individual events and the rest of you fight in the first rounds of team events."

"You are not fightin' the individual round. Peter and I will do individual rounds." I argued immediately.

"Ivan could do the individual, too," Char interjected. She didn't want Peter fighting alone.

"Peter fights better in a group," Isabella agreed with Char. "Ivan will be needed in the team competitions, however."

"Peter is standin' right here," Peter said dryly.

"Oy, as Ivan is," Ivan said matching Peter's arid reply.

"I don't think we should split up mates," Ivan continued, "Nevell and I could fight individually."

"NO!" Char and Izzy yelled together, but it was Izzy who explained, "Nevell can only take so much damage to his person. Individual events should be fought by vampires. No offense Nevell, but we're not losing you." she told him.

"Have a little more faith in me, Izz." Nevell told her. He stood with Edward watching us all.

"It's not that I don't have faith, but we don't know what we're going up against. Even if you got hurt, it takes you twice as long to heal as it does a vampire. We all will have to fight in the team Championship. We will need you whole." She tried to explain and mollify him.

"I see you're point," Nevell conceded and sighed, his disappointment were written in the lines of his face. Best of both worlds, but not strong enough or durable enough to count when it came to something like this. His frustration was overwhelming; "I must say I agree with Isabella on another matter, as well. I think it should be her and Jasper who fight individually."

"What!" I was surprised he'd want her to fight by herself the way he felt about her. He thought of her as the closest family he had ever had. I could feel the familial bond between them, although his was less so than Isabella's, but only because his desire for her got in the way at times. But it was because of the protectiveness he felt for her that I allowed it to slide most of the time. He'd been there for her when I couldn't and I felt I owed him some leeway.

Nevell faced me fully before he spoke, "Isabella is one of the best fighters I've ever seen. No offense to anyone here. She can quickly size up an opponent, find any weakness and play on it. In a group fight her gift gets her into trouble, but individually… have you ever seen her fight or spar just one on one?" I stiffened and by my reaction he knew I hadn't, he nodded knowingly and went on to explain, "Besides the Giant in South America, I didn't think so. It's hard to watch a mate fight alone, and for you two especially since you're newly mated. But she is, hands down, one of the best I've ever come across."

"Ah, is true, besides me o' course," Ivan nodded.

Nevell nodded back to him, "Ivan and Peter are our best team fighters. If, god help us, Izzy got hurt or worse, and then we still have Ivan in team competition. If Ivan went individual, no offense to Izzy, but she's not as strong as Ivan in team, and if Ivan got hurt… it would make the over all team weaker."

I listened to what he said carefully. He knew more about the weaknesses and strengths of Peter, Char, Izzy, Ivan and himself better than I did at the moment. What he said made sense. The way he was setting it up, gave us our best shot over all in all three events. I slowly nodded, "I get it." I didn't have to like it, but I got it.

He was looking to make this our best chance, and I could see where he was coming from.

Nevell gave a sharp nod at my agreement and turned to Liam, "Can we take weapons into the ring?"

Liam laughed unknowingly, "I dinna ken what good it would do ye, but there is no rule against it."

Nevell turned back to me, "If she took her sword in with her, she would have even less problems. She would not even have to use her gift, but if it came down to where she had to, she could to survive. I know Liam has entered one gifted and one not. Jasper, your gift would be of more value than Isabella's in a fight like this, and I know you can do both. "

I pondered what he had said and pulled Isabella around so I could see her face. I could feel the hope and determination rise up in her.

"One thing," Liam interrupted us, "Ye must let no one know ye're mates. If they even suspect they'll make yer life a living hell. Antagonizing mates is a favorite of theirs. Fighters play on that. Please be careful, all of ye."

We were all aware of this already. It's a tactic I'd used often in battle myself.

I held Isabella's face in my hands, "How 'bout this. How 'bout I see ya fight and then _I_ will spar with ya. I know you can spar and take down an unsuspecting person," she snickered when I said that, "but I want to see how you will do without your gift. Then," I took a deep breath first before I told her, "Then we'll see where we are. It's not that I doubt ya darlin', I'd just feel better all the way 'round if I knew ya could handle it to my satisfaction."

She smiled nodding; her emotions left me thinking I had already made the choice to let her go. I knew she could do this. That didn't mean I wasn't scared shitless to let her out there without me.

"We have four days now before we have to leave, let's make the most of them," Peter said slapping his hands together, "Where can we spar?" Peter asked Liam.

"Behind the house is a field. Ye may use it."

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

Watching Isabella spar, I had to break down and give her her dues. She knew what she was doing. As cliché as it sounded, she was poetry in motion.

I paired her off with each one of us and she took us down without her sword or her gift. She was fast and could pick you apart faster than you could blink. She wasn't afraid to use the whole arena we'd taped off as boundary lines. She used her surroundings to her advantage and wasn't scared to use anything by means of winning.

The field behind the house was scattered with shrubs small trees and rocks. Tall green grass swayed in the breeze as she worked her magic.

With her sword she was a graceful wrecking ball on a mission. There were a couple of things I showed her to improve further and put in the back of her mind when she was fighting. She quickly picked up what I showed her and used it.

I'd never seen anything like her.

When she and I sparred, I used everything I had to beat her. I didn't go easy on her either. I stopped short of killing her, the people she would be fighting would not. We each won equal amounts of our bouts.

In the end I relented to her fighting individually. Ivan was disappointed he wouldn't be fighting individually, but he acknowledged he would be better help in the group events. He was our strongest and he would be great back-up if Isabella or I got hurt in the individual rounds. That was more important.

Char and Peter, I noticed, had defined and sharpened their skills over the years. I wasn't sure why Peter didn't want to let Char fight individually besides just being mated to her, Char was good. Really good. She didn't have the finesse that Izzy had, but you could tell she'd picked up a lot of pointers from her. She was twice the fighter I remembered her being.

Nevell surprised me most of all. While I watched him, I realized where Izzy had gotten most of her moves. He was graceful, aerobatic, and fast. He joined me on the sidelines after a bit and watched the others with me.

"She'll be fine you know," He told me quietly.

I let out a heavy sigh. I hadn't really talked much with Nevell. There were always others around. This was… nice.

"Yeah, it looks like you taught her well," I admitted.

"Mmmhmmm," He hummed, "I just showed her what I knew, and she took it from there. Mostly she's honed her skills working with Josh, our martial artist and trainer. She spent a lot of time with Jamie and Josh once we found them." He said quietly and I understood immediately even though he finished the thought, "When we had any down time, that's where you could find her, out in the ring sparring with anyone and everyone that would teach her. Once she was good enough, Josh let her train some of the others."

"Where did you learn how to fight?" I was curious.

"When I first escaped from the place that born me, I was a little lost. My life had been lived and confined to such a small area of life. I wasn't worldly in any manner of speaking. They taught us some while we were there, but usually I wasn't allowed. They wanted me for other things than fighting." His voice trailed off as he remembered.

I was about to ask more when the silence grew between us but then he started speaking again, "So, when I got out, I wanted to explore the world. I traveled all over. Not having any ID I mainly stayed in less populated areas. Being Dhampir it enabled me to pass as human. I was in India when I came across a guy who taught me how to fight. That story is long and better saved for another day, but he took me under his wing and taught me how to survive."

"It must have been hard trying to make it out in the real world," I commented. I couldn't imagine.

"No different than it was for you, when you got away from Maria. We all learn to survive the best we can." Nevell was watching the sparring match as I glanced at him. I could see where Isabella could so easily find camaraderie with this man. He was so mellow and so… together. He didn't let his time in the Labs define him. Or maybe it did. He took everything in stride with a flair all his own.

His calm demeanor was soothing. He made people around him more relaxed just by being there. I'd seen him sparring however, and I knew there was more to the man than met the eye. I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, that's for sure. I bet we'd be pretty evenly matched. I couldn't have been more grateful for his presence in my mate's life. And now mine for that matter. I turned back to watch the action in front of us.

Emmett had joined our sparring session, and I could feel his melancholy. He wasn't all too happy he wasn't going with us.

Nevell and I joined the group and separated into teams. Rosalie got in on the action then. She didn't like it, but she was putting forth the effort. I had a feeling it would take her awhile to get out of her funk. She'd been in it a long time and she didn't adapt well to change. Emmett's new outlook and dominance in their relationship would help that along.

Peter talked to the ghouls who were here guarding Eleazar and they were sent out to get us blood. Liam said it was unorthodox that we bring our own blood, but we told him if it was brought up, we could tell them it was a special diet.

He relented that it was reasonable and we'd be able to get away with that excuse. Otherwise we would have had to kill humans they brought in special for the event and that was something none of us were going to do.

It wasn't like there were rules of 'no enhancing agents' or anything. Liam rolled his eyes and eventually shut-up about it. I didn't like him. None of us were feeling fuzzy toward him.

Garrett and Kate had arrived and they spent their time with Eleazar catching up on the events that led us here.

Edward told us Liam was scared shitless he was going to get caught bringing us with him. Liam was especially scared of Vladimir's reaction and we weren't sure why. He wouldn't say and when we confronted him. Edward, even with his new power in his gift, couldn't get it from his mind.

Liam's fighters joined our foray, helped us spar in teams, and became our guinea pig punching bags. They were good. Very good. But they had nothing on our group. They did teach us some moves, but not many. I was a little shocked at how little they did know. They were more brawn than finesse.

The gifted one in the group was their strongest fighter and only because he created a force field of energy around himself you couldn't penetrate. It was like Kate's gift, she could zap people with touch, but the current was different with this guy. It covered his whole body and stood at least a foot off his skin in a blue haze. It was impressive and I would have traded him for one of us if the fucker could fight better. But whoever trained him didn't do a good enough job, at least in my book. Our group was much stronger than he was by far.

One thing Liam was impressed with was our fighting skills. He practically salivated while watching us. He was getting more and more excited that he could win this crazy plan of his. Edward did manage to lift that from his mind. It appeared that Liam was putting all his cards on the table. He'd lost all his fighters over the last five years and needed something crazy to redeem himself. So happy we could help. I rolled my eyes at myself.

We spent every minute out in the field behind Liam's house going over strategies. Strengthening ourselves and becoming comfortable with fighting with each other.

The closer it came to time to go, the more excited I became. I couldn't help it. The little skirmish at Mucky Duck's was like a warm up to what was to come. It would be nothing compared to what we were voluntarily walking into. We were there to do something worthy, not fight for territory. I was getting to fight with Isabella again. The Giants we fought in South America was just warm up compared to this.

I saw Kate, Garrett, Eleazar and Liam walking across the field and I halted our activities as we waited, making them walk out to us.

It was the fourth day, we were leaving in seven hours and Liam was carrying what appeared to be robes in his arms.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**~Izzy POV~**

"These are the robes ye may wear into yer quarters sequestered for my fighters." Liam said as he handed us the robes. They were dark wool charcoal, the inside were silky blood red. "Ye must know, the others who will come…Royalty, gamblers, investors…other fighters and guests will be walking around before the Games begin. Ye'll be required to have yer hoods down at those times. Only guests, such as Garrett may wear the hood up at all times."

He handed me mine and I had to smirk as I watched his hand shake when he did so, "Let me get one thing straight," I told him, "We may be going to these Games under guise that we are your fighters, but in no way shape or form are we _your _fighters. Make no mistake about that. What you do I find deplorable and have spent years trying to track down and eliminate scum like you. The only reason you're still alive is that we need you. Make no mistake about that. You, sir, are a means to an end. Refrain yourself when you speak of us as property."

Jasper wrapped his arm around me and shot me a wave of support and pride.

Ever since we'd gotten here I could see the excitement build in Liam and I wanted to puke on his shoes. This went against every fiber of my being. We were going to the elusive Games. We weren't going to end them; we were going there to join them. I tried to stamp down my own feelings of betrayal, but the closer it got time to leave the harder it was.

I knew what my job was. I knew why we were going… but it didn't make it any easier on my heart.

Monstress was no help either. She was front and center. She pawed at me constantly. She was equal parts excited, as she was repulsed at what we were about to do. Liam's attitude was just the thing we did not need. I didn't want it rubbed in my face. I wanted to kill the bastard.

I had been trying to save these people a couple of weeks ago that we were about to go in and slaughter for our own survival. And why? Because it was a once in a lifetime shot to find the information we'd been hunting for, for years now. This mission was what we were made of. It was what I was made of. Besides Jasper, it's what drove me and gave me purpose.

Monstress growled and clawed me again making me pay attention.

"Izzy, I am sorry if I offended any of you. I did not mean to insult you." Liam looked chastised.

"Why do you do this?" I asked suddenly not being able to hold the question back any more, "Why do you have this need to use people like this? To lead them to slaughter? To take innocent people and turn them upside down for your gain?"

"When we have time, Ms. Izzy-"

"That's Mrs. Whitlock to you." I said a little more harshly than I had intended.

"Right… Mrs. Whitlock. When we have time I will gladly tell ye how I find myself in this position. It is not the time for it now," Liam's high spirits seemed to wash away quickly to the reality he wasn't standing amongst friends.

I wanted to argue and tell him it was the perfect time, but I held my tongue. I didn't care if I hurt his feelings. I just couldn't do it. I'd hold him to telling me all about it, too. As soon as we were all back safe and sound. If he didn't mysteriously die before he could make it back that is.

My nerves were shot, I knew once we were on the ground at our destination I would be better. But for right now I let the raw nerves surface and eat away at me. If I did that now, let them have reign on me for a little while, I'd be able to be more focused when it counted.

"I wanted to tell ye, Mrs. Whitlock, that it might be best if ye changed your appearance. If ye plan to bring yer sword into the ring, along with yer hair, I can almost guarantee ye will be recognized." Liam warned and I wondered again what he wasn't telling us. I got the feeling he was hiding a graveyard of information.

I let out an exaggerated breath. I knew I'd have to do something about my appearance. I had just ignored it until now. Black or blond? Black wasn't going to be much of a change. Maybe I could bleach it out and then dye it green. I laughed at the thought.

It would have to be dyed because there was no way in hell I was cutting it off. It would never grow back. Or take a century to grow back. No way.

I looked at Jasper and he raised his brow in question, "Whatcha think, darlin'? Blondes have more fun."

"Yeah," I kissed him quickly on the lips, "You guys have fun and I'll have Char help me."

"Are you sure?" He seemed hurt, but I needed some woman time.

"Yes. This is a girl thing." I said and kissed him for longer this time.

"Ok." He told me quietly as the bond told me he was slightly mollified.

"We'll get dye for Edward, too. What color do you want Eddie?" I asked turning to him.

"It's Edward, and I'm not dying my hair." He shook his head.

"Yes, you are. Caius would know what you look like, at the very least. It's better if you do." I said.

Edward scowled, "Black."

"Done," Char snickered and we were off.

It took us a trip to town and four boxes of hair dye to get my hair the colors I'd decided on. When I finally looked in the mirror I had to admit, I loved it. The two vastly different colors complemented each other well. We washed my hair out several times, getting the smell out, while we talked about the upcoming events. We admitted to each other we were both on edge, but excited if we put our personal feelings aside. We were a conundrum of emotions.

"Tell me what happened after you jumped Izz," Char whispered. She didn't have to explain what she was talking about.

I took a deep breath. This is why I wanted Char to come with me. I wanted to talk to her about it, "I was scared shitless. Trust me on that." My mouth was suddenly dry.

"He became her Poppet didn't he?" Char said quietly. She didn't have to explain that either. He had. Beast had taken over his instincts when he saw Maria on that screen. Beast had snapped Jasper and Major's control on him.

I looked at her a little shocked that she knew what happened.

"I'm not stupid," she continued, "I know Maria had a hold on that boy somehow. It's like Major has two personalities," she had no idea, "when we were in those wars with Maria, Jasper was a whole different person. It's hard to explain."

"I think I understand more than you think," I mumbled.

"I believe you do. I think Maria was scared of Major. She had to do something to have control on him. She had to make him rely on her so he wouldn't kill her. She broke him. He could have so easily killed her, but he never did, no matter how many chances he had. But for some reason he didn't." She sighed, "Peter and I talked a lot about killing her before we went back to get him out of there and away from her. We knew he wouldn't be able to kill her. It's like that one syndrome. In the end, though, getting him out in one piece was more important."

"Stockholm." I said.

"Yeah, that. But on a whole new level, ya know?" She said.

"Yeah. I kinda got that."

"So tell me what happened once you jumped. By the way… it took Edward and I everything we had to keep Peter and Nevell in the jet. You guys ever do that again, I'll rip both of ya all's arms off myself." She said harshly, and I knew she wasn't joking.

So I told her everything. Jumping out of the jet. Following him. Our little exchange in the tunnels.

"I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't let him know I was scared or he would have just eaten me alive. On the run there, I tried to get rid of the fear so he wouldn't feel it or smell it. When he attacked me in the tunnels, I needed him to know who I was." I laughed, "So I smeared my essence on his face."

Char gasped, "You did what?" she choked.

"I made him smell me. I wouldn't let him cut me out. At first I didn't think it worked. As soon as I released him, he bolted for her. Then… he opened the door, but he didn't go in. I stood there staring at him trying to decide what I would do if he released her. I figured there were enough tools in that room I could take them both if I had to. I would have killed her. Been done with it."

"Oh, _Cherie_," She whispered sympathetically, "He would have gone bonkers."

"I know. But there was no way I was going to let him save her, ya know?" Boy did I know, but I would've done anything to keep him with me. I knew Jasper didn't want her. Not really. "But it doesn't matter now. He stood there practically shaking, and I knew he was fighting it. I knew he was fighting the hold she had on him. He'd been running on instinct. I knew that. But it still hurt like a bitch.

"When he finally went in, I was right behind him. I just watched, waited. I was so torn up inside, but I could tell he couldn't even feel me anymore. It was like our mating link was cut for a while. Then…" I didn't know how to explain the next part.

"What happened?" Char asked.

"I'm not really sure. Jasper and I talked about it after, but neither of us know exactly," and we didn't. He didn't know how he did it and I wasn't sure exactly what I saw, "He roared at her."

"Yeah, the whole place heard him." Char told me.

"That doesn't surprise me."

"The ones left in the tunnel were right behind you waiting for him to attack you. They would have killed him," she said.

"Wow. I didn't even know they were there." I hadn't either. I had only been aware of him. "When he roared, it was like released this black foggy cloud. It came out of him and he made her absorb it."

She was quiet for too long so I looked up at her from where I was sitting. She'd been brushing my hair out but she had stopped mid stroke.

"What?" she asked.

"Have you ever heard of something like that?" I asked her.

She slowly shook her head, "No, but that doesn't mean I don't believe ya. That's… weird."

"Tell me about it. Jasper said it was like he released all the evil she put him through and made her take it back. Does that make sense? How the hell did he do that? I don't know. But when he was done, it was like he was…lighter. His whole being was lighter. He held his head higher, he didn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders anymore."

"Wow," Char said as she stared out the window toward the field, "That's… that's just… wow. You're right though, honey, he does seem like he's shed the world from his shoulders. I knew there was something… but it's hard to pinpoint."

"You have no idea how relieved and how much it took for me to not intervene in that shit." I told her.

"I can imagine. I don't know what I would have done if it had been Peter. You've learned a lot of patience though over the last few years. You're very disciplined. I guess all those training sessions paid off eh?" I heard the humor in her voice, but I could also tell how scared she'd been for me. It made my heart warmer to know I had such good friends. No…I had family. Char was my sister.

"It's over now though. We can move on. And just think," I said with a laugh trying to break up the seriousness of the conversation, "We have Maria waiting for us when we get back to torture for as long as we'd like."

Char laughed with me and we moved on to other topics. Lighter topics.

Edward came into the house when we were finishing up with my last washing and we did his hair next. He didn't look as good, but it changed his look enough it would be harder to recognize him unless someone looked close.

By the time we got back out to the field everyone was ready to hit the road. Garrett had spent the days watching us and talking to Eleazar. Kate wasn't happy about him going but like Eleazar had promised, neither she nor Garrett put up much fuss. And like Carmen had promised, Garrett was going, not Eleazar.

I'd left my hair down for full effect and I was smiling at the double takes everyone gave us as we walked across the field.

I fell into Jasper's arms and felt his lust spike through our bond, I buried my face into his chest and breathed him in. Leather and Jasper spice. My favorite.

"Darlin'," He whispered, "Damn, just damn!"

Pulling back I felt his fingers run through the tresses of my new look.

"What made you decide on this?" He asked as he let my hair fall through his fingers.

I shrugged, "It's different, they'll be lookin' at the hair, not the sword."

He shot a sharp laugh into the air, "Whatever you say. Fire engine red and blond. I like it, it'll do the job."

"Thanks." We'd dyed it into chunks and it was a startling contrast but like I said, it complemented each other. In a braid it would look badass. Right now I looked like a calico cat.

"Is there anything else we need to know before we take off, Liam?" Jasper asked turning to the man the question was aimed for.

Liam took us all in, "Not that I can think of."

"Then we'll meet at the jet in an hour," Jasper said and promptly took me in his arms and took off for the hills. I saw Peter doing the same with Char.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

Once everyone was in Liam's jet things became a little tense. Mostly because Liam was here. He fidgeted and cleared his throat of venom more times than I wanted to keep track of. Jasper let him squirm not giving him any assistance with his emotions.

"Let me fix your hair," Char said taking out the bag from the previous run to the store, "I'll fix yours and then you can figure out a way to fix mine."

I went and sat at her feet while she made work of my hair.

This jet was a lot smaller and we were in here like sardines. At least it felt like it.

Garrett, Edward and Jasper all fell into easy banter as did Peter, Ivan and Nevell but soon enough all the men had moved their chairs around in so they could all talk.

I closed my eyes and listened to them strategize. Normally I would be right there in the mix of things, but listening appeased the craze inside me.

I peeked at Liam and watched his fidgeting. I wanted to ask questions. I wanted answers. Did I dare do that now? Depending on his explanations he could be dead before we got there. Was it a risk I was willing to take?

Char pulled on my head as she braided my hair in a million tiny braids.

I didn't think it would change any outcome by engaging the man. I let it go. Answers could come later. I closed my eyes again.

When Char was done she tied my hair up and then I went into the bathroom to look at her work.

I was shocked. The way she tied up my hair after braiding it… it made me look like medusa or something. How the hell did she get the braids to stand up like that? The ends of my hair stood eight inches off my head. The coiled braids plastered flat to my head looked like coiled snakes. I looked like a fucking porcupine. Then I would move my head and the braids seemed to come to life. Medusa, definitely medusa.

"Wench," I said and knew she heard my utterance when she laughed. "Your turn." I said coming out of the bathroom.

Jasper looked up at me and about had a heart attack. I laughed at the expression of horror on his face.

"It's not that bad." I grouched.

"No, just… fuck… uh… different." He stammered.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I muttered.

Char sat between my legs and I ran the brush through her long blond locks trying to figure out how to get even.

I smiled evilly when I figured out what I wanted to do.

While I worked the jet stopped to refuel and I didn't pay any attention. No one moved from their seats or stopped their conversations as we took off again.

By the time I was done working on Char, she looked like a bird whose feathers had been ruffled.

I'd taken her hair in chunks, spiraled it into a mini beehive, and looped the ends back under and through the middle making them come out the top in little tufts three inches long. There were at least 20 of these on her head so when she moved those tufts would shimmy like feathers.

Kinda like those trolls humans put on their dashboards of their cars that when you rolled them between your hands their hair stood on end.

She gave me the evil eye at my laughter and flittered to the bathroom. Her snarl told me she wasn't as happy as I was with my hair.

"We could dye the top feathers," I told her when she came out, "That would look cool."

"We don't have any more dye." She hissed.

"It's not that bad," Peter said coming to her side, "it just looks like you could fly with those little helicopters all over you head."

The jet burst into laughter.

"They look good, and you look different." Jasper consoled her.

"Like a warrior princess." Peter told her.

"A flying warrior princess," I said between chuckles.

"Shut up," She hissed at me again, but I could see her trying not to smile and knew she had forgiven me.

"We have time to do something different," I relented.

"Nah, this'll do." She said and came to lean on my legs.

"We need to choose names," Peter suggested. We'd talked about this before. We'd all given our ideas but no one had decided on any.

"Ivan, don't you know Latin?" Char said.

"I know lots of languages," He drawled quietly.

"Tell us some names for warriors," She told him.

This was good. Another distraction to pass time.

"Hmm. We wouldn't have to put them to Latin, but warrior names are good. I could go by a name I went by long ago. People new me as Murtagh. It's Scottish Gaelic meaning sea warrior."

"Were you a sea warrior?" Peter asked surprise coloring his features.

"Yes, at one point," Ivan shrugged and didn't elaborate.

"I want to be Perseus." Peter nodded like it was a done deal.

"Perseus?" Jasper asked.

"I don't think so," I said immediately shaking my head.

"Why not? And you can be Medusa!"

"That's exactly why not. Perseus killed Medusa dumbass."

"Well, we'll change history. I'm Perseus." He demanded.

"Fuckin' whatever," I half laughed at the doufas. How can you tell that man no? He'll do it anyway.

"Jasper could be Cattegirn."

"Cattegirn? What is that?"

"It is a name for battle lord," Ivan said.

"Cat for short."

"NO!" both Jasper and I said together.

"What about Char? How 'bout Joan?" Peter said.

"Joan of Ark? She was burned at the stake Peter." Char gave him a scowl.

"Yah, but she was fucking cool. A true crusader," Peter tried to convince her.

"Just no." She shook her head making her 'feathers' bounce.

The names choosing went on and on. In the end, I demanded to be called Zee. Peter and Nevell's names for me weren't going to fly. So it was Zee, no more no less. I absolutely refused Medusa.

Nevell name fit like a glove – Dieter – meaning warrior of the people. It fit.

Peter and Edward's fight was the best. Finally they agreed on Ant. Why it was Peter's decision I have no idea. Because he was the medic and not fighting, he was supposed to listen, be our clairvoyant, Peter had argued. You couldn't imagine what you can make out of the names that classify the name of a mind reader. The other names were so much worse, and Edward couldn't come up with one of his own, so he finally gave in to Peter.

Char was tougher. Ironically she ended up with Cat.

We spent the next couple hours in silence. At some point Char had moved over to Peter and I'd found my way to my mate's lap.

I stared out the window thinking about all the men, women, and beasts we'd saved over the years. I remembered all the death and destruction we'd witnessed and created. I remembered our fallen soldiers as we'd gone on raid after raid. I prayed for the people with me now wondering if we could actually survive this one.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

A/N

**I know there must be questions on the way the fights are set up. When it comes time, I will post in the A/N what is going to happen that chapter… no worries :)**

**(+=)**

**The next chapter is already done. Will probably post on Tuesday. I don't want ya all to loose the momentum**

**of the story, so I've tried to get far enough ahead to be able to post twice a week for a while.**

**Like I said above… I don't know how many more chapters there will be. Maybe 5 or 10 or… don't know.**

**If you have questions about what's happening or would like to see something you **

**think I've missed or left out, let me know.**

**Leave me your thoughts, I love reading them!**

;)


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N**

**We're on our way! **

**Thank you Betas Bripearl and LetsJustDance for your ****encouragement** and continuation of keeping my words straightly crooked.

_**Previously;**_

_Peter and Edward's fight was the best. Finally they agreed on Ant. Why it was Peter's decision I have no idea. Because he was the medic and not fighting, he was supposed to listen, be our clairvoyant, Peter had argued. You couldn't imagine what you can make out of the names that classify the name of a mind reader. The other names were so much worse, and Edward couldn't come up with one of his own, so he finally gave in to Peter._

_Char was tougher. Ironically she ended up with Cat. _

_We spent the next couple hours in silence. At some point Char had moved over to Peter and I'd found my way to my mate's lap. _

_I stared out the window thinking about all the men, women, and beasts we'd saved over the years. I remembered all the death and destruction we'd witnessed and created. I remembered our fallen soldiers as we'd gone on raid after raid. I prayed for the people with me now wondering if we could actually survive this one._

**~AWARENESS~**

**~Izzy POV~**

The closer we got, the more my tension rose. I couldn't pinpoint it. Usually I became more centered when going into battle. Maybe it was what we had on the line. Maybe it was my worry about Jasper. But I felt… this awareness in me that I wasn't sure how to classify.

I recruited Char and we went to work on Ivan. We'd brought extra clothing along with our battle ensembles and Char had bought body paint. We braided Ivan's long blond hair in the front at his temples into the classic Scotsman warrior braids and added beads here and there. Then he gave us a diagram of warrior symbols of his time and we painted across his bare chest. Much to the dissatisfaction of our mates. Needless to say, Ivan had to finish it with Nevell's help.

No one else would let us try out our handy work on them and by the time Ivan and Nevell were finishing, the jet was landing. We all quickly changed into fighting garb. They wouldn't let me wear my leathers. They let Jasper wear leather pants. He wore a tight black t-shirt with it. I stuffed mine in my bag, but wore loose pants that I could move in, and a tight t-shirt that wouldn't get caught up in the straps of the mini-katana I had strapped to my back.

No matter how much they protested, I wasn't walking into that place unarmed if I could help it.

We all wore knives. Jasper opted to put his katana on his back as well. We all wore similar clothes, except for of course, Ivan. Who wore his kilt… and nothing else. His sword hung at his side.

Damn.

We took what we would need in a couple of large duffle bags and headed to the private helicopter that awaited us. Liam dragged behind us.

I didn't feel sorry for him. Not even a little. He was lucky to be alive and I wanted to remind him of that. Jasper's sudden grip on my arm, guiding me into the chopper, stopped me. I met Jasper's eyes; he hadn't known what I was going to do, but he felt my emotions and knew that I was looking for a fight. He gave me a minute shake of his head and I huffed, climbing into our ride.

The tension grew in my belly. I pushed it back.

As we had left the jet, I'd quickly pushed out my gift as far as it would go. The town we were in was small and my senses easily picked up the entire thing. If I was a betting woman, I'd say half of the signatures I picked up here now, were preternatural. Visually the only thing we could see was vampires.

I didn't see any Giants. That didn't mean they weren't there.

Our pilots were vampires. They didn't look at us or acknowledge us in any way.

We talked to Mac right before getting off the jet. We wouldn't have contact with him again until we landed. They'd made it to Mexico and to Rucker's bunker. Mac was pleased; the place was much larger than they told him. He was tired mentally, but adrenaline was pumping and Rucker was making their transition as easy as possible. Rucker had left his bar open as if nothing was going on. No one even knew we were there, thanks to the soldier that once fought beside Jasper in human form, Mac and our team were all set up and ready to rock.

They were safe and tucked into the mountain.

Once in the air, Liam told us what to expect once we were on the ground. We would be led to our quarters and asked to stay. The building we would be put in would be at the back of the arena, away from where everyone else would be arriving. All the preternatural that would be fighting would be in the same building. He said the rooms were like locker rooms and had the bare necessities to make us comfortable while we waited our turn in the arena. It was not encouraged to mingle with the other groups.

"We can't watch each other fight?" Jasper's tension skyrocketed.

"Ye may, actually, if ye wish. There is a section of stands sectioned off for the fighters, allowing for observation. It is highly guarded. There is no violence allowed between the preternatural outside the ring. If a fight does break out, ye will be ushered away and told not to return. The Giants won't listen to who is right or wrong, they just follow orders." Liam said. "If ye press the issue, or if ye are in a fight, the Giants will settle the matter themselves. Usually by death."

"Greeeat." Ivan snarked.

"You won't be with us? You're going to give us a tour, right? That's one of the whole points of this shit is to get to know the players. Edward will need to know whose minds to look for." I spit the words between gritted teeth.

"I will be able to see ye anytime I wish. I will come and go to let ye know what is happening on my end. I may only take ye so far in a tour. The men and woman ye want to know about will be around and in and out of the fighter's quarters. Ye don't have to stay in the room. Just avoid fightin'."

"You better not run off when we get there." Char told him.

"If it is found out who ye are, we may all end up dead." He said harshly, "I can act no differently than normal or it will bring suspicion."

"So I guess you won't be running your mouth, eh?" Nevell shot Liam a menacing warning glare, reminding him that he hadn't been all too forthcoming about some of this shit, although he had been asked before we left.

"No, it would not be in my best interest, I already told you that." Liam sputtered.

The helicopter hit turbulence, ending the conversation. Liam wiggled under our scrutiny. This man was a leader?

I had to turn my attention elsewhere and try to cool my jets. The landscape from above was beautiful. Ethereal. I leaned out a little to see in front of us and saw our destination come into sight. Rosalie was right. It looked like a stadium. White dots littered the ground all around it and I imagined they were tents. As we got closer, my suspicions were confirmed.

I was surprised at the landscape they had selected for the event. It was open tundra. You could see mountains in the distance, but they had chosen to set up in the open, away from anything. From a security standpoint, that would be to their benefit. No one would be sneaking up on them any time soon. Anyone who wanted to escape would have to cross miles of open landscape before they could find cover. Air attack or escape would be nearly impossible.

The chopper glided around to the back of the stadium and I noticed that the top of the stadium's catwalk held what looked like rocket launchers. Jesus. They took the no fly zone seriously. I could just imagine what damage could be done to someone running away as well. As we flew further around, a long narrow building wrapping around the backside of the stadium, came into view.

Beyond the narrow building stood another much smaller non-descript building. Liam said it was the headquarters for the Giants.

This was all more than I had expected. How the hell did they construct this shit in such a short period of time? I voiced my question to Liam. He explained quickly that this was one of the three set ups they had. The others were being built as we spoke.

Fantastic.

They had this shit down to a science didn't they? No amateurs here.

People stood around talking below us and at our approach, most looked up to see our helicopter coming in.

The pilot swooped down and landed in the designated area and we clambered out.

My body's awareness to our surroundings was firing on all pistons. Jasper stood beside me but didn't touch me as six Giants came out of the narrow building and approached us. I could feel everyone's tension go up ten notches at the sight of them.

I held Monstress back, my muscles locked down as they came closer. I wanted to attack, to kill.

They didn't speak, but they made motions for us to follow as they fell in around us and led us to the building.

I hesitated. Fuck. Every hair on my body stood on end as the Gladiator wannabe's led us forward.

I finally got my legs to move and followed the others. Jasper didn't look at me, but he shot me some concern and I made myself pull in my emotions and sent him the reassurance that I was ok, but I didn't really feel it. He returned it.

Something inside me was gnawing at me. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. My gut was trying to tell me something and I couldn't quite grasp what it was. Monstress began pacing and pawing at me; she was just as high strung as I was.

Trying to get rid of the feeling, deemed impossible. The closer we got to the concrete building, the more the awareness grew in my belly. It had me on edge.

Taking a huge breath, I tried to relax. Pushing the feeling away.

We were led to huge double doors and I realized that I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings. The building we were entering was a hell of a lot taller than I first thought it was when we were in the air. It stood thirty some feet tall. The doors were from ground to ceiling.

That was a little daunting. What the fuck would they need that big of doors for? Did I want to know? Each one was at least twenty feet wide.

Fuuuuuuuck.

Monstress hissed.

One of the doors swung open a few feet, and we were led down a hallway the width of the doors, with dirt floor and cement walls. Only two of the Giants remained with us, the rest had stayed behind. Two we could take easily, I relaxed a smidgen.

Scents I could name and ones I could not wafted to me, making me want to crouch into a defensive stance. My body repelled the forward motion as we moved further into the building. Danger, danger, danger! It screamed. I pushed against my instincts and kept my feet moving with everyone else.

We came to a T and the Giants who led us, turned right.

No one spoke.

I pushed out my gift and tried to make sense of the signatures I picked up. Blinking quickly to my second sight, I scanned the place.

The Giants didn't come up on my radar. At all. They were blank spots. As if they didn't exist at all. My telekinesis didn't pick them up either. I would be of no help if it came to running for our lives.

I nudged Jasper as we walked down the oversized hall, asking silently if he could pick them up at all. He shook his head.

Yup, we were fucked. How was it possible? It was like they were fucking ghosts. No wonder I hadn't picked up on them when we were in South America. That made me wonder if I'd missed them in other places we'd been. They had no smell. No way to track them. Maybe their Giant feet would leave heavy enough impressions in the dirt to chase them down. Knowing them, they could probably walk on fucking water.

Why would I want to track them? I'd be running from them.

Doors were spread out on either side of the passageway. It reminded me more like a storage facility for large machinery than a place to house a bunch of preternatural creatures. Steel doors were staggered thirty feet apart so you couldn't stand in one doorway and see in the opposite side's door across from you. An enormous garage door accompanied each door. What would need access by a 20 ft by 30 ft garage door?

I comprehended a little late that the three-story building was only one story on the inside with 30ft tall ceilings. Fuuuuck me.

Nineteen doors later, the Giants stopped and motioned for us to enter a room.

They had put us at the end of the hall next to a door marked EXIT.

I don't know why, but I was overjoyed with that. From the little I'd seen of this place, there was no way to escape, but the illusion settled both Monstress and I.

We entered and when we were all in the room, the steel door behind us clambered shut. The room opened up to the right of us. It was pretty big. Plenty of room for all of us to stretch our legs and dance a waltz in the middle, all at the same time.

I let out a breath.

The room was bare. Concrete just like the outside. Metal chairs sat folded against the far right wall in the back corner next to a steel gurney. One like you might see in a morgue, but larger. That was comforting. A long low cabinet sat next to it. Edward went over immediately and opened it. Medical supplies. Good to know.

Directly in front of us loomed a large opening and from the chlorine smell, I assumed it to be showers.

We stood as statues decompressing after the three minute walk to get here. Nothing had happened. The Giants hadn't eaten us. We were safe for a few minutes.

The awareness in my belly let itself be known again. My tension soared and I flinched as Monstress's claws dug my skull.

"We must go," Liam's voice echoed in the room and I wasn't the only one who jumped, "I will be back, but I must meet with the others first."

He turned and left, taking Garrett with him. Garrett gave us a helpless look and followed behind Liam.

Jackass.

Jasper flitted to me as my eyes scanned the ceiling, no cameras. I flicked my earlobe. I wanted to hear a voice from the outside world.

Jasper put his nose into my neck and inhaled me as I did him.

"Mac," I whispered.

I heard a whoop in my ear and I had to smile, "'Bout time you checked in. I was getting… well… is everything ok?"

"As ok as it's going to get right now. They led us to a room and left us here."

"You're alive. That has to count for something." Always the optimist, our Mac.

"True." I was right; a voice from home was just what I needed. It didn't make my belly shed its turmoil, but it soothed my nerves.

"So what the fuck are we supposed to do now?" Peter griped.

"Liam said we could wonder around," Char patted his chest, "Let's stretch our legs out."

"Good idea," Jasper mumbled. But when everyone started to leave, he held me back.

I looked up at him expectantly when the door slowly shut.

"Are you really ok? Your emotions darlin' are startin to worry me." His face scrunched.

"Sorry. I don't know. I feel weird," I admitted.

"We're all on edge, but you seem to be the worst one. Maybe it's just the bond that makes me feel ya stronger," He said.

"Maybe, I don't know. Monstress is… isn't helping either. It's just nerves I guess. I'll try to get it under control." I felt bad. The last thing he needed was to be concerned about me. His focus should be on other shit.

"Don't feel guilty darlin', it's not botherin' me that much. Major ain't too happy with me either. Do you want some help?" He asked, offering his gift.

I shook my head, "Not unless it gets too much for you."

He studied me for a moment, "Al'right." he nipped my lips and we turned to join the others. They hadn't gone far; they stood waiting for us by our garage door.

We joined them quickly and began to walk down the corridor. Peter and Jasper led, then Edward, Char and I walked together, Nevell and Ivan bringing up the rear. We saw no one at first. No sounds came from within the rooms as we passed. This side of the building seemed deserted. Sounds drifted down to us from the other end of the corridor, however, so the place wasn't empty.

I let my gift flow out, assessing again.

We passed the T in the hallway that led us here, it stood empty and we kept walking. Up ahead, we could see what appeared to be another T in the hallway leading in the opposite direction. Silently communicating, we headed to it. By logistics it should lead us out to the stadium.

As we rounded the corner, we came face to face with a group of fighters. At least I assumed they were fighters. We had heard them before we rounded the corner, but that didn't take away the shock at seeing them. My mouth dropped open.

Before us stood five green men. Scaly, green men. They turned their blue eyes to us and watched as we walked by.

"Nice ass on the blond." Spoke one in Italian.

"Better tits on the fire and ice one." another said in the same language.

"I'll take either. I wonder if those snakes on fire and ice's head would bite?" said another.

Jasper growled and I sent him a warning of emotions before he cut them off abruptly. Peter wasn't doing much better. His barely restrained anger could be seen in the tension of his shoulders, but his growl was inaudible.

"If I get the chance with either one in the ring, I might fuck em' instead of fight em'." They all laughed.

We kept walking and the green men kept up their banter until we got to two more huge doors. They were identical to the ones we'd entered through previously.

"Do we go out?" Char whispered.

"Liam said we could look around," Peter reminded.

"You need an escort to go out." One of the green men yelled down the hall.

"I'd be happy to escort you ladies," another said, and I could hear their footsteps as they started down the hall towards us.

"Oh yeah, the ladies 're just fine where they are," Peter bit back in the same dialect they used and unless you knew him, you might not have caught the restrained possessive rage in his voice. If the green men did hear it, I hoped they would chalk it up to a rivalry's aggression or something.

"Ah, but they could have more fun with us," Italian rolled off their tongues like liquid.

As they drew nearer, you could see the scales shimmer and reflect as they moved. Creepy.

"What are you guys?" Charlotte asked them. Her head cocked and her eyes narrowed.

They stopped ascending on us.

"Who the fuck wants to know?" in an instant their whole demeanor changed, one from teasing to menace.

That was a strange reaction. Maybe it was impolite to ask. Against the rules?

"Don't get your panties… or scales in a bind. I was just curious." Char barked back.

"You're not allowed to ask. Didn't they teach you any manners?" They? Who the fuck were they?

"Doesn't mean I pay attention to that shit," Char remarked covering the faux pas.

I guess we weren't allowed to ask questions.

"Better learn quick, round here it's liable to get you dead." And with that, they turned as one, and left.

We looked at each other and started back down the hall after them without saying a word. When we got to the end and turned left back toward our room, we watched the green scaled men slip inside the first room on the left. We sauntered by the closed door and then flittered to our room.

"Ok. So wandering around might not be in our best interest." Peter ventured.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

We sat there, silently listening with our door open for the next two hours. No one came down our end of the hall. At one point, we rushed to look like peeping Toms when a fight broke out somewhere down at the other end of the building.

We watched as the Giants interceded between a group of vampires and a group of shapeshifters. No blood spilled and I let out a breath.

I looked at the Giants in a whole new light now that I knew where they came from. I wondered why they didn't talk. Didn't gladiators talk back in the day? Were they not allowed to talk? Did they cut out their vocal cords or something? Cut out their tongues? It was odd. They had to have vocal cords because I'd heard one of them scream. But no words were ever spoken. Even if they didn't teach them to speak, you would think they would have picked up the language at some point on their own. I wondered how they created them.

I spent the next hour contemplating these questions and more, as we waited for the next to happen. We weren't sure what the _next_ was. I got more pissed at Liam by the second.

Another hour rolled by before the awareness in my belly grew again and I became restless. I'd been sitting on the floor when I was suddenly on my feet.

Monstress, who I'd finally gotten to settle down a bit, was up and at it again. She paced and clawed and rolled her fur against the inside of my skin.

I rubbed my face with both hands and felt Jasper's hands come around me, holding me to him.

"What is it, Isabella? Tell me." he cooed.

Fuck, I wish I could. I didn't know what was wrong. It was like I was waiting for something to happen that wasn't happening. That was stupid. We were all waiting for something to happen. But this was something more. Something I had never felt or dealt with before. I tried to put it into words.

"I don't know what's wrong," I whispered, "My gut… it's like… I don't know… it's like I'm waiting for something to happen."

"We all are," Peter murmured. He sat on the morgue gurney thing with Char. I peeked at him over Jasper's shoulder.

I had chosen my spot straight inside the door not ten feet in, up against the wall. The door sat propped open against the wall with a brick.

"What is your gut telling you?" Jasper tried again to make sense of me.

"It'll sound crazy." I mumbled. Because it did. Even to me.

"Tell me anyway." Jasper pulled on one of my porcupine snake braids.

"Like… it's aware of something I'm not. Like I'm waiting for something I can't see, can't anticipate," I finally explained.

"It's aware of something?" Jasper said slowly like he was rolling it around on his tongue.

"Yeah. It's… shit…like an awareness," I nodded agreeing.

The reaction I got wasn't one I expected. I thought they would all laugh. I thought they would make fun of me. What they did was suddenly pretend they were all statues. Vampire shock.

Uh oh.

"What?" I asked, looking around the room at the horror filled faces. Well Nevell wasn't horrified. He was more stunned. That was positive right? It was better than horrified, but I wasn't sure by how much.

I chanced a look at Jasper's face and I inhaled at the concern I found there.

The bond told me nothing his face wasn't showing. His concern was horror filled.

"Tell me. You know… you know …what it…" I didn't know how to finish it. I didn't know now if I wanted them to tell me. It was obvious that they had a good idea what was going on with me.

Nevell found his voice first as he came to stand behind Jasper, but where I could see him.

"When did it start?" Nevell asked.

I thought a minute, "On the jet. Right before we landed." I gave a definitive nod.

"This feeling, is there a tugging?" Nevell pushed for more.

"A what?" I was perplexed now.

"A tug or pull?" He reiterated.

I thought about it. No not really. Just awareness. Like a feeling something was going to happen, and soon.

I shook my head, "No, it's… hard to describe. It's an awareness." I repeated, "Like intuition. Like something's about to happen, but hasn't yet. It comes and goes."

"It's not intuition, darlin'," Jasper spoke finally.

His voice did nothing to reassure me.

"Tell me," I gritted.

Jasper turned and Nevell and he silently held a conversation.

"For crying out loud, fucking tell her already," Edward muttered.

My eyes flashed to Edward and then back to my mate and pushed him away so I could see him better.

"What you're describing is what it feels like to be near your Sire," he said.

Huh.

OH.

Well…

Here?

Really?

We were out in the middle…

We were at the Games.

Enemy territory.

Monstress roared, deafening me. I couldn't hear what was going on around me as I stared at Jasper. I saw his lips moving, but Monstress's roar drowned him out.

That can't be. What did that mean?

Here?

NOW?

My Sire?

No. Surely not.

Jasper had told me less than a week ago about the pull to your sire. The awareness. Why hadn't I put it together sooner? I didn't feel a _pull_ though.

"It's okay, it's ok," I could hear Jasper's voice again. Everyone in the room was talking at once in hisses and snarls.

Monstress was unsettled.

"_Ennnneeemmmy._" She hissed at me.

"I'm al'right," I managed out between unmoving lips and pants, "Does… Peter?" Peter's attention turned to me, "Do you feel Jasper? He's your Sire. Do you feel him?"

"Yes. I'm always aware of him when he's near. It's stronger if he's hurt or in trouble and I'm close enough to feel the Sire bond."

"Sire bond?" I asked, "Sire bond?" I couldn't stop saying it. No one ever told me about this before. I turned to look at Jasper, "Do you… do you feel Peter?"

I was suddenly terrified of the answer, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I held my breath watching him closely.

"Yes." He said. The air hissed out of my lungs.

"That's… that's not good. Why haven't I ever felt it before?" This had to be wrong.

"You have to be close to them. It's not like a mating bond where you can feel them all the time. It's something… well over time you learn to ignore. It's just something's that's there. Your mating bond pulls from the heart, the Sire bond or Maker's bond tends to pull from the gut." Peter explained.

My Sire. My maker.

Here.

I didn't have a pull.

"I don't feel a pull," I shook my head, maybe they were wrong.

"Everyone's different," Edward said, "With Carlisle, I barely felt anything at all… ever. Whether we were sitting in the same room or a mile apart."

"So, if you can feel Peter…" I trailed off trying to get my head wrapped around this. Then that meant my maker could feel me? Just another reason, I comprehended, that Jasper's time in hell with Maria had to have been severe. He had to kill that of which he was created. If you could feel the tug and you had to destroy that… fuck. I was happy Maria was still alive. Another reason I could torture her for that when I got home.

"Yes. But like Edward said, each Sire bond is different. If your Sire is someone here, they might not know you are." Jasper responded to my open ended statement.

"Why is that? Is it weaker the other way?" I hoped.

"Not necessarily. But whoever it is could have many others they have Sired here with them." That was possible. Maybe they wouldn't notice one more in the mix.

"Can you tell one from another?" I asked quickly.

"No," Peter answered, "Like I said, unless you're close physically to them, you can't even feel the awareness of them. You can't feel what they're feeling. You can feel the death of them if you're close enough, or if they're in trouble or in a great amount of pain. I'm surprised you felt it so far out actually. Maybe they were on the helicopter. Was it stronger then or now?"

"Now. It's been growing the closer we got here. I mean, now that I know what it is… it's already lessoned." But Monstress was freaking out. I tried to probe her for answers but she wasn't any more forthcoming than she was any other time that I had asked.

"That's how you knew where Maria was back at the Fortress," I wondered how he'd found her so quickly.

"Yes." Jasper explained, "The Sire can put out a distress signal for lack of a better way to explain it. Maria wasn't searching for me necessarily, but anyone one of her creations so they would know where to go to rescue her. Like Peter said, you can't differentiate between the ones you've sired."

"So my sire is here, and may or may not know I am?" Great.

"It would appear so." Nevell said sadly.

I looked at Nevell and I could see the love and support he sent to me with just his eyes. He knew how many questions that were bubbling away in my head. We'd spent days talking about this. I'd spent days scared shitless that my sire would come back for me. I didn't know why I was created, or if it was an accident. I didn't know why they left me there alone. I didn't know the days leading up to my change. I didn't know what had happened, what I did, what they did in the days prior to my change.

I didn't know who they were.

Would they know me when they saw me?

I probed Monstress again, but she was agitated and wouldn't even acknowledge me.

Taking a deep breath, letting it out and letting the calm Jasper was sending me wash over me and through me, I let myself relax some. At least now I knew what was bugging the shit out of me. I wasn't sure knowing, however, was any better.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

The place filled. We'd taken to leaning up against the wall near the exit door to watch the proceedings. Creatures of all sizes shapes and colors drifted in. I felt like I was at some kind of circus or something. I waited for the elephants, but they never came.

There were shapeshifters that smelled of wolf, cat and horse. Tattooed vampires. Ghouls of all sizes. Dhampirs with spikes protruding form their heads. Not metal spikes, horned spikes. Men larger than the Giants. One Minotaur that we saw. A large skinny vampire caught our attention at one point. He had to be nine feet tall, he towered over everyone, and he was rail thin. Like Stephan King's thin man. Creepy.

Fights broke out and were quickly distinguished by the Giants. They were all led to rooms and shut in. Some of them came back out, but most stayed locked away. I was grateful for that.

We did see blue-flying creatures, too. Their wings did work. At least these ones did. They fluttered above everyone as they went down the other end of the long corridor to a room. We never said a word.

What the fuck do you say to this? My heart ached. It was amazing to see this. Amazing to see these creatures. But at the same time… I knew not a single one was born of nature. They'd been created in labs. Their gene pools had been crossed with other gene pools and mixed so thoroughly that they no longer resembled anything ever seen.

The truly sad thing? These creatures didn't deserve to die. It wasn't their fault that they were created. They didn't ask to be. They were made for a specific reason and then brought here to be shown off, to fight. Years, decades, centuries of fucking killing innocents laid a bloody path to what we were witnessing.

It made what Carlisle did look like child's play.

How the fuck were we going to survive this? Easy my mind told me, easy, Monstress reassured. We'd do what we had done for the past decade or more. We'd survive by skill. We'd assess the competition. We'd remember the outside objective. We'd shed the guilt and the desire to save and we would survive.

Watching the creatures, I took each of them individually and calculated weaknesses. I watched the way they walked, how they communicated. I watched their muscle density and how they presented themselves. I looked into eyes and watched for how far they were willing to go to live. I watched every movement and body flex they gave. I especially watched the skirmishes that broke out.

My gut spiked its awareness, but by this time I was getting used to it and ignored it. It was getting easier to put it away and not think about, just like they all told me it would be.

I wondered what the hell was taking Liam so long. I wanted to walk around, but there was no way any of us was doing that now with so many here. I wanted to see the sandy arena we'd seen coming in, up close. I wanted to be able to familiarize myself with it.

I let out a sigh and dropped my chin to stare at my sneakers. My arms were folded over my chest and my fingers tightened into my ribs. My ribs were fine now. I was completely healed. I didn't have an ache about me. None of us did. I wondered if that would change by the end of the day.

The awareness in my gut flared higher. It was so fucking annoying.

"Here comes Liam," Ivan told me. He stood to my right and to his right was Jasper, then Char and Edward. To my left stood Peter then Nevell, who was closest to our door.

I didn't even look up, but I could feel my own relief at Ivan's words. I needed to move. I needed to do something to distract myself from this shit in my head. I was driving Monstress and myself crazy. She was on the surface. I could feel her fur again against my skin.

I could feel her trying to lift my head up.

She was right there in my eyes. As I stared at my shoes it was almost as if I was staring through her eyes now instead of her behind mine. Weird.

Looking back, I should have known… something. Something was wrong. Something was about to happen. Something bad. But at the time, I failed.

Adrenaline kicked up in my body and it was taking everything in me to hold it back. It was occupying my mind, my senses.

It was like Monstress wanted out of me.

Monstress wanted complete control.

I had little options to stop her.

My senses became sharper. Like they were when she was so close to the surface.

But this time was different.

I tried to push her down, but she refused. I struggled and she won.

I was preoccupied with it.

So, by the time I looked up, Liam and his cohorts were standing directly in front of us.

My world spun and I swear to god I thought Monstress was going to dive out of my skin. My muscles locked down tighter than ever just to keep me from moving my feet.

Before us stood the Sovereignty.

And amongst them… my Sire.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**DON'T HATE TOO HARD**

**Next update Wednesday or Thursday.**

**So which of the eight do you think is Izzy's Sire?**

Christopher ~ Australian Power

Caius ~ Volterra Power

Heidi ~ Volterra

Stefan ~ shared Russian Power

Vladimir ~ shared Russian Power

Liam ~ Northern Europe Power

Huilen ~ self appointed 'Somebody Important' Scientist (Ghoul provider)

Isaak ~ one of Vladimir and Stefan's Second.

**Leave me your guess and your thoughts as to why you think so.**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N**

**AGAIN I'm posting early. ~My sister has teased me over the years at Christmas time, to my crazy behavior. It's not the presents that I open that I can't wait to pounce on, but the gifts that I give to other people that I can't wait for them to open. I always try on Christmas Eve to get my sister or my mom to open their's early. Sometimes, if I beg hard enough, they give in. My anticipation of their reaction when I'm proud of my choices, is just too much for me.**

**This, I find when I have a chapter done and ready, is close to the same feeling. Not quite, but close. lol. I did hold out yesterday, but today... I just can't do it.**

**Those who took a stab at the identity of Izzy's Sire... might be a little surprised at the outcome. I think Heidi was the popular vote with Caius running second. A Christopher and a Huilen thrown in there as well brought up the rear. All good guesses and all plausible with this story... but...**

**Thank you For all the reviews and thoughts, I loved all your words!**

******Thank you Bripearl and LetsJustDance for their encouragement and continuation of setting my words stghairt. lol**

_**Previously;**_

_Adrenaline kicked up in my body and it was taking everything in me to hold it back. It was occupying my mind, my senses. _

_It was like Monstress wanted out of me. _

_Monstress wanted complete control._

_I had little options to stop her._

_My senses became sharper. Like they were when she was so close to the surface._

_But this time was different._

_I tried to push her down, but she refused. I struggled and she won._

_I was preoccupied with it._

_So, by the time I looked up, Liam and his cohorts were standing directly in front of us._

_My world spun and I swear to god I thought Monstress was going to dive out of my skin. My muscles locked down tighter than ever just to keep me from moving my feet._

_Before us stood the Sovereignty._

_And amongst them… my Sire._

**~SIRE~**

**~Izzy POV~**

Nostrils flared, we took in his scent.

Previous memories, cut off from me, threatened to rise. I pushed them back, knowing that now was not the time to go down that road.

Our fingers curled into claws as we took a look at the men and one woman before us.

They were looking us over like we were the most interesting things on earth.

All but one of them.

The one who had eyes only for me.

The one Monstress and I were zoned in and attuned to.

Vladimir.

Vladimir stood before us and with will power I didn't know I had, I stayed our position on the wall.

He didn't look like a man happy to see us. I wonder why? We knew instantly that he recognized us.

I knew exactly who he was to me.

Not good.

"Is your hair alive?" The question split the air around us as Heidi broke the sound barrier between them and us.

Did she just ask if my hair was alive? Why, because I was standing here shivering with the desire to kill and my eight inch tall braids were quivering?

"Yeeessss," I hissed harshly. Ask a stupid question…

I wasn't the one who answered her, Monstress was.

She was driving this ship now.

Our eyes never left Vladimir.

"Wow." Heidi seemed completely oblivious to what was happening around her. Or she was good at playing stupid, "What the fuck is up with her eyes?"

Vladimir choked at her blatant question.

Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill.

Not now.

Not yet.

My mantra to Monstress played over and over as she prepared herself to pounce. He wasn't making a move, but we would be prepared to, with one false twitch on his end.

"You know better than to ask those kinds of questions, Heidi. Don't provoke them." Caius scolded her. Heidi shut up. Caius said 'them' like we were temperamental psycho's who could go off with any sudden movement.

Some of the other Sovereignty were now looking between Vlad and me, puzzled as to why we were having an Alpha staring contest.

Jasper's growls were getting stronger and louder. Ivan stood stiffly beside me on the right, as did Peter on the left, ready to fight if need be. They didn't know what was wrong, but they didn't care.

All I could do was try to shackle Monstress.

No.

All I could do was go for this joy ride with Monstress.

I was looking through _her_ eyes and I could tell that by the look on Vladimir's face, he was looking at _her_ not me.

Horror.

Terror.

Disbelief.

Fear.

He was ten feet away and I could not only see the emotions, I could smell them leaking from his skin.

Giants stood around the eight of them as if to guard them from the perils of walking through their own monstrosities.

Liam stepped forward; I didn't bother to look at him, I held Vlad's attention like I was entrancing him to do my bidding. I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head as he waded into the deep end of memories.

Liam began introducing us.

Going down the line, he started with Edward and worked his way down.

"This is Ant, the medic of the group, Cat a team fighter, Cattegirn will fight individual and team, Murtagh team fighter," he came to me and Vladimir's eyes lit on fire, "Zee, individual and team fighter, Perseus team fighter and Dieter team fighter."

As Liam introduced us, Vladimir had broken away from our gaze to look down at Edward. I watched his eyes slightly widen. His head snapped back to me, his face incredulous.

What the fuck was that about? Did he know Edward? Did I have to kill Edward? Why did I always want to kill Edward? It was like every time I turned around, I was wanting to choke the bastard. I knew it was just me, but still.

"What curious names. Where did you find your fighters, Liam?" Vlad seemed a little breathless, not taking his eyes from mine as he addressed Liam.

My nostrils flared again. I hadn't moved. Hadn't twitched. But when he asked, I held my breath, waiting to see if Liam would tell the cover story or blow this out of the water with the truth.

"From here and there, you know I don't give away my secrets," Fucking idiot. He didn't go with the cover story, but he didn't give us away either. Yet, anyway. I had a feeling it was too late for that now with this new discovery.

I didn't dare draw my eyes away from Vlad; I don't think I could if I tried. My shock of the events well hidden from his view.

The only person showing any signs of stress was Vlad, after introductions.

I really couldn't believe that Heidi didn't recognize Jasper. Maybe Alice and Maria really had hidden him from the world. Even her. Alice seemed to have kept her secrets close to her. She gave no recognition of me at all, or any of us, for that matter.

"These aren't newborns… they are even seasoned a bit," Stefan said, joining the conversation, "Do you know her Vlad?" Stefan asked his brother, his Russian accent grabbing the attention of everyone else as to what Stefan had already zoned in on; That Vlad still hadn't looked anywhere else, "Or are you lusting after her? Stop staring at her. She's liable to attack you."

I noted that they were all speaking English. I wondered why. Rosalie had said none of them spoke English when she was in their presence. Maybe that was just because she was there.

At Stefan's words, the Giants stepped a foot closer to their charges.

"Do I know her?" Vlad asked slowly, like the question was alien. I hadn't released that air yet. I wasn't breathing at all. Not breathing kept the memories at bay. Not breathing kept my mouth shut. Not breathing kept me still and against the wall and not attacking him. He looked me over from head to toe, "Do I know you Zee?" He finally asked me.

He was challenging me to expose myself. To confirm his suspicions. Fool. I took it as a rhetorical question, seeing as I knew for a fact, he already knew the answer. I could hear nothing but recognition in his voice. I said nothing. There was no way I was going to step on that land mine.

Monstress curled our lip back, baring our teeth to him instead.

Isaak stepped forward, putting a hand on Vlad's shoulder, "Looks like she wants to have you for breakfast, mate." He said, his voice strained and joking. There was wariness in his voice and body language. The hand on Vlad's shoulder wasn't just camaraderie; it was holding Vlad where he stood. Or maybe to push him away when I came off this wall to kill him.

I hated Vlad. I wanted his venom to spill. I took him in. He wasn't very tall for the presence he exuded. Longish brown hair, medium frame, dressed as the others - in robes - it was hard to tell his true physique. His face I noted, wasn't without its flaws.

Christopher, who stood behind and to the right of him, had a scar running down the middle of his face. It was noticeable and gave him the look of a man who had been to hell and back, and not someone you would want to fuck with…. Ever. He'd conquered whatever dared to tangle with him.

But Vladimir's face… held something else. A man more than scarred. A man who had tangled with something larger and meaner than himself, and yet somehow had walked away even though he had been the lesser of the two. It had been luck, for Vladimir, to have walked away from what had left him with permanent scars.

_Fear_ accompanied those scars.

Or maybe I just thought that, because the scars on his face were from me.

I knew that without a doubt.

On the left side of his face were four distinct lines from his temple to his mouth. It had even made his mouth a little lopsided and twisted as one of the long thin scars tore into it.

It was my claw mark.

Monstress's claw mark.

Monstress was proud of the fact we had left our mark.

A memory of me, Bella, lying underneath this man before us, flashed in my mind. A snippet of confirmation of my new knowledge. Vlad was over us, holding me by my neck, yelling at me. I watched as my hand came up… turning into a claw and swiping across his ugly mug.

Four distinct marks appeared, opening up his face into gaping slashes. Venom sprayed.

He roared in my mind and attacked, sinking his teeth into my neck. I felt through the memory, my then clawed hands rip into his back. Screaming, he reared back, and then I only knew pain.

The memory was a flash in time. A second in the scheme of things. But I knew it was Monstress showing me how I was created. How I had come to be changed. And how Vladimir was scarred because of us.

No wonder he looked so horrified.

It left more questions than answers.

"I think you are right," Vlad said without skipping a beat, "We should move on."

"Hey, wait, I have questions!" Heidi said.

"No, you don't. Let's move on." Vlad turned on his heels, breaking our eye contact and without waiting for the others, flitted down the hall. The others blurred to catch up.

Liam threw me an unreadable look before he followed, the Giants hot on the Sovereignty's heels.

I wondered briefly where Garrett had gotten off to. Mac would tell us if something happened to him.

I knew Vlad would find his way back here. He wouldn't be able to help himself. He was shaken up just as much, if not more than I was. I turned and blurred back to our room and before I could take more than five steps inside, Jasper was there, holding me.

I clung to him, burying my face into his neck.

"What the fuck was that? Did I miss something or do I take it you just met your Sire?" he hissed.

I nodded. He hadn't missed a beat.

"Fuckkk." Peter spit. Jasper just held me tighter.

Everyone was hissing and trying to whisper but I tuned them out.

Jasper led me to the showers with everyone following at a distance.

Holding me back from himself, he finally got a look at me.

I wasn't expecting the blanche he gave me when he got a look at my eyes. I knew Monstress was there in my eyes she hadn't relinquished control.

"Fuck me," He hissed.

That pissed me off and I snarled.

"No, hey. I just wasn't expecting that, okay? Easy," He gave me a chaste kiss, "I love ya darlin, but… here come here." He led me over to a huge sink in the corner. Above it was a mirror.

Then I blanched a little, too. Ok. I could see where he was coming from.

Not only were my pupils deep golden yellow, my entire eyes were.

Just like a mountain cat's would be.

Damn.

I was looking at Monstress there in my eyes. She stared back unruffled.

I looked away, turning from the room so no one else could see. It wasn't that I didn't want them to see, but I didn't want to explain right now what was happening. I wasn't sure myself.

"Is Vladimir really your Sire, Izz?" Nevell asked quietly and unbelievingly.

"Yeesssss," Monstress hissed for everyone to hear, making sure they understood how we felt about it, she gave an extra little cat snarl at the end.

"What-" I heard Edward's voice but before he could get further, Peter cut him off.

"Shut it, Edward." Peter ordered.

"Hey, I was just… never mind." Edward glowered. I wanted to know what he was going to say. I wanted to know what he lifted from Vlad. If he was in his mind, then he most undoubtedly saw my eyes.

"Well this throws us into a whole new ball game doesn't it? I suppose we can't hope that he'll just go away and not come back." Peter muttered. "I didn't see this comin'." I could here the disbelief in his voice too.

"Heeee commmmee baaaaack soooooon," I said. Maybe talking wasn't a good idea. I wanted to push Monstress back, but that was proven impossible. It was like we were equally in control, but not. It kinda freaked me out and confused me at the same time.

"Uh, shit." Peter cleared his throat after hearing me speak, "I think he'll be back as soon as he figures out what he's going to do about all this. I'm not sure what the fuck _we_ should do."

"There's nothing he _can_ do," Nevell said, "We're here under Liam. Even if he is Izzy's Sire, he left her. Abandoned her. For a leader of his caliber to admit he left a newborn to fend for herself, he might as well cut off his own head. Besides, if he feckin' tries anythin' he has to go through all of us first!"

I appreciated the attempt to ignore the elephant, or in this case, the cat in the room. I trusted all of them, but we could hear others in the hall, anyone could overhear our conversation. Besides, I didn't think I had enough answers to go down that road right now.

"But him being powerful will get him out of trouble, don't ya think?" Ivan argued throwing into the ring.

"Maybe, but I don't think so," Nevell said, "There's too much competition between them all to outdo each other. This could become a way to get rid of that competition or humiliate him publicly. He knows that."

"This is a cluster fuck," Peter mumbled.

I said nothing as they began to talk about what this would mean. How this could have happened. Monstress decided right then that I should know what happened to us.

Her memories opened to me, coming in snippets of relevancy, and I was again looking into the eyes of Vladimir. I, Bella, was on the ground looking up at him as he towered over me.

He was yelling. What was he saying?

"…. _The Cullens? Where are they? They left you behind like trash, but why? Esme and I had a deal!_" His Russian accent so thick I strained to understand him, "_I can't find any of them."_

"_Who are you? How did you find me? What do you want from me?" I heard my voice shake with fear._

"_What do I want from you? Your powers, little one. Esme says you will be great. I paid good money for you. I have all kinds of plans; don't worry your little head over it."_

"_Esme?" I squeaked, horrified. I scooted back on the ground, trying to get further away from him._

"_Why did they leave you?" He pondered, ' Why didn't she bring you to me like she promised?" He asked me._

_I didn't answer him. I had no idea what he was talking about._

"_But I need your mate. I paid for the mate too," he muttered looking away from me._

"_Mate?" I was confused._

"_The mind reader! Don't play fucking stupid to me!" he yelled, looking back at me._

_Edward? Edward wasn't my mate._

_"They left me."_

Another Snippet;_ "Yes" he said slowly, like I was two, "You told me already. But why? Esme and I had deal. I can't find them now. I just found you by mistake while looking for them. Where's your mate?"_

_He thought Edward was my mate? He was so wrong. Another was my mate. "He left me. He said he didn't love me anymore. They all left."_

_"He left you? On purpose? What are they playing at?" He started pacing, muttering in Russian. I tried to move back again and before I knew it, he was on top of me. Holding me down._

_"Where the fuck you think you're going?" He laughed. He sat on me. Holding my shoulders down, pinning me to the earth. He smelled like popcorn and mint. Yuck._

_"Where are they!" He demanded._

_I tried to shake my head._

_"Tell me! I know he couldn't have left you behind. You must know where they are! Tell me! No mate can leave their other half behind! You are not fooling me!" He hissed, spraying venom onto my face._

_"I… I….I don't… know," I started crying. _

_"Stop sniveling! You will never survive by crying! Suck it up, you little bitch!"_

_"Why…" I choked on my own saliva, "Why?" I couldn't get the rest out._

Another snippet; _"I bought you. Esme sold you when she figured out that Alice couldn't tell that you were gifted. I was the highest bidder."_

_Esme sold me? Gifted? What?_

_"But I'm not," I cried._

_"Crying will get you nowhere. That is a lesson you will learn quickly. Use your brain, not your emotions; you will get much further that way. Women! They are ruled by emotions. You best learn, it will get you no leniency with me. It will give me pleasure to teach you this lesson."_

_That made me cry harder. I felt the sting but didn't know how it happened. The whole side of my face was on fire. My cheekbone hurt so bad that I knew he'd broken it._

_I tried to bring back my tears. Tried to stop. But I couldn't. I felt my eye swelling. _

Another snippet_; "USE YOUR HEAD!" he screamed. He wasn't making any sense. None of this did. I wanted to go home. Wanted to go back to the Reservation where I knew I was safe._

_"Where is your mind reader?" he asked again._

_"I don't know!" I sputtered between tears._

_"I'm beginning to believe you," He sighed and climbed off. "She has double crossed me. I must make sure."_

_The weight of his body now gone, I could breathe again. I took huge gulps of air._

_"Fuck….. you," I was beyond caring._

_He motioned with his hand and the men, who had taken me, were there in a flash. _

_Snippets and flashes of hours, days of torture and more questions by his men and himself, flew quickly before me... Monstress hiding most of the horrors of what they did. The questions were always the same. And she fast-foward through most of it._

_The ghouls didn't rape me, but they tore the flesh from my body. Hit me countless times. I didn't know then what they were, but I did now, ghouls. He'd had his ghouls beat me as he asked me over and over where the Cullen's had gone._

Yet more snippets_; "When I found out _who_ Carlisle was," He had made the ghouls stop as he started talking. It was like he took pity on me and wanted me to know why I was going to die, "I thought it was a gift from the Gods. Then he was gone, poof. Heidi… Alice…I knew they found him… I knew he was supplying Alice with gifted. I knew they were working together. Somehow she found him. Alice has controlled all of us for years. Controlled our lives. YEARS! Made the others and me look like fools. Alice wouldn't sell to me or share. I killed on her word. Finding where they hid was best luck. I set up a meeting with Esme to do some designing for me. She didn't know who I was, but when I told her… she said she had a deal for me. She said it was her who could find gifted and Alice didn't always know unless she told her. Imagine my… elation. I should have just stole her._

_"We made deal. The next gifted she found Alice didn't know about, she would give to me. She called and told me that she not only had a potential, but the mind reader would come with the deal for more money, since it was the mind reader's mate she'd found. In exchange, I gave her large sum of money and the promise that I would not hurt her husband or family. She was to supply me with gifted so I would have a way to win against Alice. I think now, Esme has own agenda. Alice…." He trailed off looking away from me. "She will destroy us all…."_

_I could barely move. My body hurt. I could feel each slow pump of my heart in my ears. I didn't know why he was telling me this. I didn't even know who the hell he was. The tears had dried up long ago. I didn't know what the hell he was talking about or why he was doing this to me._

_I wasn't gifted. Edward wasn't my mate._

_I was meant for someone else. I don't know how I knew or why I knew or even who it was. I just knew. Something inside me was telling me to fight, but I didn't know how or have the means to do it._

_I wanted to kill this man. I was a weak little human and I couldn't even fight against him._

_"Fuuuuuck….. youuuuu," I breathed. I didn't know why I said it. I didn't know why I wanted him closer to me. But something inside me told me to provoke him. _

_He did, he was on me in less time than it took my heart to beat once. He went for my throat with his hands. With all the strength I had left, my hand came up and I swiped at his face. _

_I saw my hand, no longer a hand but a claw, swipe, and tear across his granite skin. I was amazed that I left the marks across his skin. Did I do that? How? Whose claw was that?_

_He screamed, holding his face. He stared at me in horror and then… his teeth were at my throat. He drank from me. I wrapped my arms around him and clawed. I felt his flesh being shredded under my claws, I clawed harder._

_He let go of my neck screaming, his eyes met mine and he screamed again. He was off of me, ranting and shrieking in Russian. _

_Then the pain came._

Monstress released me from the snippets of memories and I felt myself falling forward. Arms wrapped around me and I knew Jasper had me. He would always have me. I took comfort in that.

Monstress only showed me a fraction of those few days, but she showed me what I needed to know. She showed me enough snippets of conversation to let me know the connection Vlad had to me.

"Where did you go?" Jasper whispered and I felt his hands running over my body, looking for wounds he wouldn't find.

I heard the others expressing their concerns somewhere near us.

I drew in deep breaths, rebalancing myself, staying in his arms feeling the security he offered me.

"Isabella, talk to me," He demanded. I didn't like the fear I felt coming from him.

"I'm ok." I tried to answer, my voice cracked but it was me again.

"The hell you are!"

"Don't yell at her." Char snapped at Jasper.

"Hey, it's ok, just let me… just give me a minute." Shit. I was going to have to tell them. Mac was listening in too. In for a penny in for a pound.

"Everyone back off a little, give them some room," I heard Charlotte hiss and then the scuffle of feet as they backed up a foot or two. I had to smile; none of them went too far.

Lifting my head, I looked around at their worried faces and sighed. I didn't know how to explain this. I wasn't sure I wanted to, but they'd have to know what we were now up against.

"I…" I looked at Jasper and he shot me a good bit of support and encouragement, "remembered being changed and how it happened."

Everyone talked at once.

"Shut up!" Spoken harshly, Jasper tried to keep his voice down.

"Vladimir found me in Seattle on accident while he was hunting down the Cullens." Edward looked sick as I paused to look at him. I knew he must know from Vladimir's head at least part of all this. I gave him a sympathetic smile as I told all of them the rest of what I had learned.

I left out the details of the ghouls and the end where I attacked Vlad with claws.

"He changed me, but when he bit me, something happened to scare the shit out of him and he ran away. He left me to change alone." There that sounded… _reasonable_ right?

"He just ran away?" Maybe not.

"Yes. That part was a little fuzzy." It had been fuzzy, but I knew what I had seen. Monstress had taken over my body somehow and clawed the shit out of Vladimir. Evidence was written on his face, pun intended.

How had that happened? I didn't have a fucking clue. It scared the shit out of me. Had I been some kind of shapeshifter? That didn't make sense. I would have changed or felt different somehow or… and that didn't explain Jasper having Major… or did it? Fuck it was confusing.

"He said Esme sold me." Edward whispered, "Was nothing real in that family?" His voice so full of rage and pain.

"I'm sorry Edward." I told him sympathetically.

He raised his hand to stop me, "I shouldn't be surprised, should I? Not at this point. Let's talk about the living," and we all nodded hesitantly, "I know it's none of my business, but I saw in Vlad's head…"

"What was he thinking about?" Peter asked.

"He was wondering how B had survived. He saw," Edward looked at me; his expression told me what I had suspected, he'd seen what I'd left out of my story in Vlad's head. He gave me a look as if to ask if it was ok to continue.

Might as well, I nodded giving him the go ahead. I was just as curious about this part as the rest of them. I wanted to know what exactly Vlad had seen, and more importantly, what he'd been thinking.

"Do you know what happened? Do you remember?" He was giving me the opportunity to explain it myself. I had to give him credit for allowing me to tell as much or as little as I wanted. I knew what he was asking, 'do you remember what happened when you were changed.'

Rubbing my palm over my face, I sighed to the inevitable and nodded, "Yeah, what did it look like from his end?"

Edward hesitated but then said, "He was remembering his encounter with you when he saw your eyes. He was remembering how angry with you he was when you told him to fuck off or something. His anger at the Cullens was overwhelming and he attacked you, then, he felt pain across his face. He didn't see what had hit him. But you're eyes… your eyes turned golden yellow. They glowed. I don't know if the memory was embellished in his head, but I don't think it was. His memory had your eyes looking like, uh, cat eyes or something. Dark golden yellow with thin vertical black pupils."

Exactly what I had seen in the mirror after getting back in the room.

Jasper stiffened and I rubbed his chest, letting him know it was ok, "What else?" I asked Edward.

"Then he bit you and something ripped into his back. He couldn't see what that was either obviously. But it was excruciatingly painful for him. He'd sent the ghouls away prior to him attacking you. He had planned to end you. There was no one there to help him, his back felt like it was on fire and he ran away. He figured he didn't get enough venom in you with your injuries, as bad as they were, to send you into the Change. He thought you died. He's kicking his own ass for being stupid and not staying to make sure."

"Cat eyes? What tore up his back?" Ivan asked.

Edward saw for himself what happened. From the minds around me who were aware, I knew he probably had put a bunch of pieces together. The others knew enough, so they could draw their own conclusions as well. Ivan, however, didn't know and I was going to have to tell him. Mac's people too.

Monstress didn't try to stop me when I let Ivan and the others know about her. Her willingness to share showed how much she trusted the people we were telling. How comfortable she was with sharing our life. Her existence.

I gave Ivan and the rest all the cliff notes. But they got it. It took over an hour to get Ivan and the others caught up from the time I changed until now. I told them about waking up, about Monstress talking to me, Monstress showing me the latest memories of Vladimir and his ghouls. I told them what he had said to me before he changed me. I told them what happened when Monstress somehow scarred Vlad. I left out that she had shown me prior to today her past that was separate from me.

It felt strange to talk about it out in the open. But it felt right to do so. I left out Major. That wasn't my story to tell and would only complicate it all further.

"No wonder they were interested in you. Were you a shapeshifter of some kind?" Ivan asked.

"I don't think so. That doesn't feel right. I don't think anyone knew about Monstress. I think they just knew I would have a gift. You can't tell me Alice didn't suspect I was gifted. Edward couldn't read my mind. That should have tipped her off. But I was Jasper's mate and I think that sidetracked her and changed her plans. It was a kink in her plans. Esme obviously knew that I was gifted. If Alice decided to do nothing with me, Esme was given the opportunity to do something about it and give Vlad what he wanted. I can't see Carlisle going against Alice. Esme could have. How Alice didn't see her doing it? I don't know. Maybe she did and that's why Esme chose to leave me where I was and why Vlad was searching for them. We'll never know, but whatever. Let's move on." Too many questions that would never be answered and were irrelevant to the here and now.

"What else was Vlad thinking," Jasper helped me out, changing the direction of the conversation.

"Vlad hated Alice. All the Sovereignty did," Edward took Jasper's cue and fell back into telling us what they were thinking, "Alice controlled all of them, to an extent, and they relied on her gift too much, much to their detriment. Even though they suspected her, and hated her, they didn't dare get rid of her. Alice had a lot of control over them all. She'd say that someone was a risk or someone was going to rat them out and they would have to take care of them. Vladimir lost friends and fighters over the years on Alice's word alone. The impression I got was that they were all at her mercy. At first, they all trusted her and thought it was fantastic that Alice could protect them. But as time went on, she had gained too much power before anyone even realized it. By then it was too late."

Edward looked up thinking about what he had learned and then continued, "I'm not sure how Vlad knew about Carlisle, but the feeling I got, there's some history there. Carlisle's disappearance all those years ago was always suspicious to Vladimir. He'd been keeping his eye on him for some reason and didn't know _why_ Carlisle would just up and leave. Years later, Vlad figured out Alice had Carlisle hidden somewhere and that's how Vlad ended up meeting with Esme. He actually wanted Carlisle, but Esme made a deal with him when they met."

"What else?" Nevell prompted him.

"The rest of them… they're scared. The Lab raids have them on edge and they know it's only a matter of time before they're attacked themselves. They don't know if they have a traitor amongst them that finally took out Alice, or if it was a fluke. At first they had thought it was Alice who was arbitrating the Lab demises. The Sovereignty is suspicious of everyone even themselves. But they know they're under attack by _someone._ Alice being taken out took their suspicions and turned them on their heads." Edward finished up with, "They're worried that Maria either defected or she's dead."

"Didn't they know Alice was with Carlisle in the US?" Char asked him when he was done.

"Not that I could tell. They thought she was still in Mexico with Maria. I think Vlad and Heidi are the only ones who knew." Edward speculated from what he'd 'heard'.

"But Heidi had to have known what she was up to, so Aro would have to know." I argued.

"I don't think Heidi knew what Alice was up to, _exactly_. The feeling I got from her was that she wished she'd known more. Alice left her out for that purpose alone. Alice probably did that on purpose so Aro and his brothers wouldn't know. Heidi didn't recognize any of us. And I don't think Caius actually knew Alice had Carlisle," Edward shook his head.

"Then why did the Sovereignty go through with the Games right now? Why are they still having the Games if they're scared?" Peter sputtered.

"Mostly I paid attention to Heidi and Vladimir. But I did catch that Caius' mind was of the most use to that question. He thinks they're safer here, together, rather than separated. They all know about your raids on the Labs over the years. How could they not? They know Zafrina has the ghouls that were supposed to be shipped here to feed the Giants, thanks to Huilen. They know whoever has been raiding the Labs, more than likely took out Alice. They don't know why, but popular vote is that someone hired you to do all that. They have no idea of the personal links you all have to them. They think it's possibly Zafrina, but not definite. It could be possible someone who had escaped and came back to stop them. Bottom line is, they don't know, only speculations. Anyway, they all think they're being targeted for some reason, and _here_ they are safe behind their security. Here they can try to flush out and find answers."

"Did Vlad recognize you?" I asked Edward carefully remembering the recognition on Vlad's face.

"Vladimir recognized me, Esme sent him one of our prom pictures, of all things," he gritted out.

That explained Vlad knowing who I was in Seattle that day.

"Did the others recognize any of us?" Jasper demanded.

"I couldn't find any doubt in any of their minds about us being just Liam's fighters, other than Vlad," Edward said, "They think Liam sprung us on them last minute because Liam didn't want anyone to kill us before we got here. Given the raids and recent events, it's not improbable. I'll give Liam that much. He's covered his ass and no one suspects him of anything. Well, of course Vladimir knows now and what he doesn't, he was quickly piecing together. I'm not sure if Vlad will tell them or not. He doesn't however know you are the ones that took care of Alice, but he suspects. Vlad is scared shitless and he was trying to figure out a way to get B alone so he could talk to her."

"Not going to happen," Jasper growled, "Someone will be with her at all times. Never leave her alone. I'll have to fight out there at some point, if we get that far, we all have to stick together." he harshly ordered. His arms tightened on me as mine did his.

After a brief pause, Peter cleared his throat, "We're not leaving anyone alone, Major. We'll keep her safe along with the rest of us." turning to Edward he said, "Anything else? What was up with Heidi?"

"I saved her for last because she was the most interesting," He snorted shaking his head, "She's scared out of her mind that someone found out what she and Alice were up to. Over the years and the reason for all of it, was to take over the Powers and become the ultimate Power who ruled over all of them. She thinks someone found out and started taking out her Line one by one, starting with Alice. Except for Liam, none of them even knew that Carlisle was involved at all. They've always believed it was just Alice, Heidi and Maria."

"World domination?" Nevell asked incredulously.

"Yeh." Edward answered, "I was able to dig in her head a bit. Everything they have done, has been leading them to herd the Sovereignty where they needed them to be. Years, decades, centuries of planning. Slowly nipping away at those around them, making them weaker and weaker until they could have taken them over easily. Herding them where they needed to be.

"They had Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and me," Edward scoffed. I could tell he berated himself for being so blind, "Then there was Maria. Grouping us all together, Heidi and Alice would have eventually taken out Eleazar. If you think about it, Eleazar was a sitting duck. He trusted all of the Cullens. Heidi and Alice would have taken Eleazar out eventually. Then Alice and the Cullens would have taken his territory, declaring revenge on those who killed him with no one the wiser. All of us would have fell in line to defend our friends. We would have played right into her hands and before any of us would have figured it out, it would have been too late. Then all this talent she had around her could have been put to use. Heidi was thinking it was stupid not to know what you looked like now that both Maria and Alice are dead."

Oi.

Vey.

"She was thinkin' all that?" Ivan said amazed.

"Well not all of it, it's just what I put together from what we've already learned," Edward shrugged, "Some came from stuff Alice was thinking but didn't make any sense at all at the time. After reading Vlad and mostly Heidi's mind I just followed those strings of thought and pieces I knew, and put things together. Fragments of thoughts came together to fill in all the holes. Alice's thoughts made sense now with the rest of the information I got from all of them.

"When I had read Alice's mind before, I hadn't been with you guys but a few short hours and half of those were tied to the wall. I wasn't comfortable giving you information I only got flashes of or a word here or there. It was too fragmented to understand. Alice had been in so much pain, I wasn't sure what had been truth and what had been just her wandering mind. It's more of the essence of her mind and lines of thought I put together. Now with the other two added in… well I put shit together." Edward shrugged.

"What about Maria?" Jasper asked.

"Alice was relying on you, actually, to go get Maria to help us fight, unknowing that Maria was already involved. They would have ruled Mexico, the US and Canada. No one would have questioned it because they could say it was what Eleazar wanted since we were 'friends and all." Edward scoffed.

Stunned. I was stunned.

We absorbed that for a few minutes. So Alice had bigger plans than I even thought. She didn't count on me though, did she? Her worst mistake was not killing me herself. She left me alive. I had Edward to thank for that. However he convinced her, she left me, and tried to get someone else to kill me instead. She thought I had died when Victoria came for me.

Alice and Heidi would have eventually done it. They would have killed Eleazar, blamed someone else for it, probably the Volturi. That made sense. Then they would have gotten the Cullens to band together with Maria's forces and whoever else and go after the Volturi. By the Cullens telling Edward, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie that the Volturi were bad, evil, and the ultimate rule makers all those years, none of them would have thought twice. The Cullens made sure none of them knew that there were any other Powers in the vampire world. Only the big bad Volturi.

If they could have taken the Volturi down somehow, then that would have freed Heidi to rule with Alice. They had been weakening and herding all the Powers slowly. It would have added the Volturi's territory with theirs. It wouldn't have taken much for them to take Liam either. I bet Alice knew about Carlisle supplying Liam from time to time. Alice could have made Liam part of her overwhelming realm then too.

I shook my head. They could have eventually pulled it off.

I told my comrades what I was thinking. I told them the theory that I had come up with.

"Slick," Peter muttered. "They could have done it too."

"You got that all from her? From all of them?" I asked Edward.

"Drinking human blood has allowed me to look deeper and faster. Take in the information to mull over later. It's like siphoning chunks and then breaking it apart at my leisure." Edward explained.

"So how can Heidi not know who we are?" Jasper asked.

"I think Alice kept us all a secret on purpose. Heidi knows some names, but not faces." Edward said.

"Aro." I said.

"Yes. Alice and she kept information sharing limited just for that reason. If she didn't know faces, then Aro could be kept in the dark a little bit more. He knows. He would have to know some of it. There wasn't a way to keep it from him. I mean Caius is involved in the Games, too. Heidi is doing her own thing. He knows what's going on, on both sides. What his motivations are… I have no idea. Why he allows it all, I'm sure it benefits him in some way. From her thoughts he's not involved in any way, but I can't see Aro just sitting back and not having some plan up his sleeve to let this all happen. Heidi can't be dumb enough to think that she could keep it from him." Edward mused.

"What about the others?" Jasper asked.

"For the most part, they were thinking about the events and how their fighters would stack up against us. I'll have to dig into their minds more, later. I only really looked at surface thoughts with them. Christopher and Huilen both were hoping we would make it far enough in the games before we lose so they could 'win' us. All of them think that B is some sort of mixed hybrid-shapeshifter-vampire." Edward told us.

"Anything else Huilen was thinking?" Nevell asked

"Not really. His mind was completely on the competitions," Edward told us. "He was sizing us up against his fighters. He's got some new guy."

"And," Nevell prompted.

"And, he can fuck with the elements. I don't know what to think of it really," Edward scowled.

"Spit it out!" Peter snarled.

"He can use ice to freeze his opponent and then shatter them." Edward said with some awe and fear.

Okay. That was a new one.

"Does he have to touch you or can he do it from a distance? Does he have to build up to it, or is it automatic?" Nevell asked.

"From what I could tell, it's a slow build. But he's only a couple years old. He can fight at the same time that he builds it up. I would think he could build it up before the fight started, and just let it rip. From Huilen's thoughts, the guy has to be pretty close for it to work."

"Well… good and bad shit I guess. Maybe throwing knives could slow him down enough to rip his head off."

"I don't know if you can touch him. Huilen didn't seem to think you can if he's got his… flow going. So maybe the knives and then cut his head off." Edward suggested.

"He's a vampire?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah." Edward answered.

"What about the others? Were they thinking about their fighters?" Jasper asked.

"Not really. I did get a sense of the 'essence' of their minds. I should be able to track them. Being here with all this going on and so many heads to pop in and out of… it'll take some time without a visual to know where I need to aim it. You guys should know… Vlad is trying to figure out a way to come back. He's freaked the fuck out." Edward said.

"Such a potty mouth on you," Peter said flamboyantly, but there was admiration in his voice.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm trying to help you here. I know you're just fuckin' with me, but I'm trying my best!"

"Hey, sorry. I know you are. I'm just trying to release some tension. You know if you need more blood, there's no microwave in here, but cold ain't too bad. One of those totes is filled with it." Peter told him.

"Maybe in a bit. I'm good. Too much and I don't know if I can… control myself, but not enough hinders my ability." Edward told us.

"Give yourself some more credit than that," Nevell scolded him, "You're doing well. You found out more in a few minutes than we did in years! Bloody hell, stop puttin' so much pressure on yourself. You'll have plenty of time in the next few days to get information. Relax, mate." Nevell patted his back.

Edward grumbled something, nodding his head. You'd think they were an old married couple or something. If it weren't for the fact I knew both of them 'loved' the female variety, I'd think they were mates. Well that and they didn't have the pull to each other that mates do. We would have known long before now if they were.

"There was that one blue lady… you know with the Mohawk, maybe you and her could make some Icy's…" Peter butted in to bate Edward again.

"Yeah. She was hot." Edward agreed nodding.

I was a little flabbergasted that he so readily agreed with Peter.

"Do you think she's blue all over?" Edward asked Peter. "Maybe you could watch my back, you know in case she tries to kill me while I 'hit that'." He made a fist pump motion to punctuate the last words he spoke.

Peter's face was priceless. We all held our laughter in just barely as Peter actually thought about it. By the emotions Jasper shared with me, I knew Edward was fucking with him, and it was sweet revenge for Edward.

"You want me to what?" Peter asked him slowly.

"Yeah, man. That ass of hers was To. Die. For." I couldn't believe Edward was keeping a straight face while fucking with Peter. Not only that, I couldn't believe Peter was falling for it.

"Uh… no offense man, but I ain't watching ya fuck her." Peter's face was set in a grimace as he shook his head, backing away from Edward.

Edward finally lost it, his head fell back and he laughed.

Peter looked a little green, "Ya were just fuckin' with me, right?"

Edward stopped laughing and looked at him, "Maybe." And he shrugged his shoulders.

Peter didn't know what to make of that. I buried my face in Jasper and laughed. I could feel Jasper's body shaking with suppressed laughter, too. Edward was such a surprise sometimes.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**There's a lot of information to digest in this chapter… so I'm ending it here.**

**I think they just raised a lot more questions, Eh?**

****How the hell did Vladimir know Carlisle before? What's the history there? Hmm **

**HINT; _the whole Carlisle diabolical happened on chapter 11 (I think) and Carlisle's story came out about how he was changed by his father… but his father's Sire was never revealed._**

********What**** does Vladimir actually know? And what has he put together?**

**** What's Vlad going to do about Izzy being there?**

****What's the extent of Aro's knowledge? What does he think of all Heidi and Caius' secrets? Hmm**

**More importantly, what was Aro going to do about it? Hmm**

**To make sure everyone understands and ya'll don't jump to conclusions I wanted to remind you; **

**Isabella is NOT a shapeshifter. Nor was she ever. That question is going to **

**have to wait for clarification a bit longer.**

**If you have questions on the new info let me know. I'll try to answer your questions.**

**Leave your thoughts for us all to ponder! **

**;)**


	29. Chapter 29

A/N

**Ok…**

**FIRST DAY and a HALF ~ Individual non-gifted are up first. Then after, the Gifted will fight. These are true elimination rounds~ they are to death. (Individual rounds are listed and given to Owners ~ they will know who they are fighting.)**

**Huge THANKS to Bripearl and LetsJustDance for keeping my words from running away off the page.**

**Thanks for the review turnout last chapter! You all seemed to like the surprise of Vladimir coming into play.**

**Your words humble me. I love hearing from all of you. Sorry for not responding very well this week to every one. Been busy with the 4th of July coming.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!**

_**Previously;**_

"_Yeah, man. That ass of hers was To. Die. For." I couldn't believe Edward was keeping a straight face while fucking with Peter. Not only that, I couldn't believe Peter was falling for it._

_"Uh… no offense man, but I ain't watching ya fuck her." Peter's face was set in a grimace as he shook his head, backing away from Edward._

_Edward finally lost it, his head fell back and he laughed._

_Peter looked a little green, "Ya were just fuckin' with me, right?"_

_Edward stopped laughing and looked at him, "Maybe." And he shrugged his shoulders._

_Peter didn't know what to make of that. I buried my face in Jasper and laughed. I could feel Jasper's body shaking with suppressed laughter, too. Edward was such a surprise sometimes._

**~FIRST DAY ELIMINATIONS~**

**~Izzy POV~**

We were too restless to stay in the room. Waiting around to have things happen on someone else's schedule, didn't seem like the right thing to do.

We left, locking the door behind us, and walked down the corridor, getting more than our fair share of stares. Jasper refused to leave my side. He stayed near me as we strolled past the preternatural that were milling around in the halls. We didn't touch, but the assurance he was with me, was a balm to my nerves.

Turning the corner again to the exit leading us to the back of the stadium, we found ourselves facing Giants at the end of the hallway near the doors. We wanted to see the arena and Peter made our intentions known to the group of them. One Giant grunted and led us out the door with little more than a backward glance.

Walking across the well-worn earth about thirty feet or so, we entered the back of the three-story stadium. A sandy wooden ramp led us up until we were on the main walkway below the bleachers. This section for the fighters was well-marked with barriers to the other sections, and larger than I thought it would be. I guess we needed to be able to have space to stretch our legs. Crowding us up would end in bloodshed, so to speak.

The Giant intelligently grunted, pointing out our boundaries, indicating where we were allowed to be. We left the Neanderthal and made our way up to an empty spot. Others were out here doing the same as us - scrutinizing our future battleground.

Nobody made any attempts to engage in conversation. None were too shy to get their eyeful however, as we passed them to find seats.

The arena was barely smaller than a football field.

Instead of grass or Astroturf, it was filled rail to rail with light, course, and grainy sand. Two mounds stood out in the center about thirty feet from each other. They rose up three gradual feet, and at the top of both stood low stagnant red flags.

Grandstands encompassed the entire arena. High wire wrapped around, separating the arena from the stands, giving the illusion that it was safe for spectators to sit in the stands.

Once again, those enormous gate-like doors graced both ends of the stadium to our left and right. They were closed.

On either side of the gated doors, at the top, were watchtowers with no guards. That seemed to be the only place where there were no guards. The catwalk, circling the top of the stadium we'd seen when we flew in, was still full of Giants, endlessly patrolling.

Our section sat in the middle between the gates, equivalent to the 50-yard line at a football game.

There were others sitting sporadically throughout the grandstands. Observers, owners, brokers, of all kinds, roamed through the isles. Preternatural had come to watch blood and venom being shed. They were seated sporadically around the place, and I quickly looked for Garrett. I didn't see him, but it didn't mean that he wasn't here. Most of the spectators were robed and choosing to leave their hoods up and their identities hidden from all.

I threw out my gift, looking for the familiar signature that I would recognize as Garrett's. When I found him, I pointed him out covertly to my team. He sat directly across from us almost at the top of the stadium, leaning back seemingly at ease, with his hood up. We knew better. His face, hidden from any viewers, gave off the illusion that he was waiting for the action to begin. I could only imagine how tense this was for him.

Time passed as we sat there taking it all in, never saying anything to each other. Eventually, we made our way back to our room. The stands were filling and we knew it was close to time begin this crazy ass shit.

As we walked the halls, we could see that most of the rooms were filled now; more people wandered the halls, checking their surroundings.

Liam awaited us, pacing, as we entered our room.

He hissed at us as soon as we entered, "Where have ye been?"

Peter gave him an 'a duh' look, "In the stands."

Liam backed down when we stared back at him, giving him no further explanation, "I have the roster for the fights." Liam said simply, thrusting up a thick cardboard sheet that held at least a hundred names.

Jasper reached out, snatching it from him, and we gathered around him to look.

The first half of the first day was set up for non-gifted individual competitions. I would be fighting first. On the chart, we were already paired off. The second half of the chart was sectioned off for the Gifted fights.

Previous Champions, Liam explained, get byes from the first day rounds. They had earned the right to not fight for their lives in the death rounds.

"I get byes my first two fights?" I said, finding my name halfway down the list. I would only be fighting twice the first day of death rounds. Not that I was complaining, mind you. Then my voice rose as I read what was next to my name, "Why am I listed as a shapeshifter-vampire? Is there such a thing?" What the hell?

"Well, yes," Liam hesitated, "after they saw yer eyes they made me change yer status. Vladimir was adamant about it. He was… he was scared of ye? I had to hedge question after question about ye. Do ye somehow know him? I got the feeling, from his questions, he knows ye," his tone was accusatory.

"No." I wasn't telling him shit.

"He seems to know _you_, or has heard of ye. He wasn't forth coming with information either." Liam wasn't pleased and I couldn't care much less than I already did. Liam was getting on my last nerves. Seriously, he was a pussy. His fear when he was around us was clear as day. It wafted off of him in waves. This man was a Power? He was a leader? I knew Jasper felt the same as I did - that the man had little backbone. Or maybe I should give him more credit. He was being coerced into this, after all. If he got caught, he would be a dead man. If he fucked up and turned us in – he was a dead man. Who knew what would happen when he got home. He'd have to watch his back for a long while, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When Eleazar confronted Liam in Ireland, Liam's life changed. I might be intimidated as well, if I'd been doing something shady and made to help the enemy. Still.

Liam cleared his throat, "He only voiced his adamant displeasure with ye bein' listed as merely Vampire. He alleged I was trying to get one over on them. He believed it was obvious to everyone by yer eyes that ye could shift. I had to change it."

"I can't shape shift." I said with anger rising in my voice, "So why does that give me two byes?"

"Eh, ye are different and suspected to go further. Ye have better chance this way. It is what they do. When a fighter is sought after, sometimes they are given a bye to make sure ye get to final rounds. Jasper was given a bye as well. They believe he can do better than ye, so he only got one bye," How thoughtful of them. "It is not uncommon for this to happen."

"So I'm considered the lesser fighter?" I said, disgruntled. Jasper snorted at my displeased attitude, when this actually should have been a relief.

"You're goin' to complain 'cause you don't have to fight as much? Bloody hell, woman," Nevell shook his head at my thinking process.

My first fight was with a shapeshifter named Eliza.

"What does this Eliza change into?" I ignored Nevell and Jasper.

"She becomes a hyena," Liam said solemnly.

Was he fucking with me?

"Does she do something else? Is she Vampire as well?" I snapped.

"No. She _is_ bigger than average, of course." like that would explain everything.

"Oh, _of course_." I said like that made all the difference in the world.

"She is venomous," Liam said adding to the woman's repute. That wasn't good, "She made it to one of the final rounds last time she was here and was lost to the Italians. She originated from an African tribe, Nabiua, originally."

"Isn't it going to look pretty fuckin' odd that I don't change into anything when I get into the ring with her?" I asked. I couldn't believe Liam.

"Actually, shapeshifters have the choice of fighting in either form. It will not look odd. There are several bird shifters who fight in their human forms." Liam said. That was a relief.

"Bird shifters?" Char scrunched her face.

"Yes." Liam waved a hand like we should already know this and it was no big deal, just another day of insanity. It seemed no creature was untouched. I wondered how many are natural shifters and how many are genetically-made. "Whatever form ye enter the ring as, is the form ye must fight in. Eliza chooses her hyena form. Do not underestimate her, she is fast. She relies on her teeth too much, however. At least, that's how she fought last time."

Jasper got a bye his first fight and would be fighting three other times. Jasper was up first against a male vampire named Daryush. No gifts were listed with any of the Gifted.

"What is his gift?" Jasper asked Liam, pointing to his first listed fight.

"I've heard that he can jump higher than normal. Daryush is Russian, from Isaak's stock." Liam answered blandly with a shrug.

"Stock?" I said angrily, "They're not cattle," I spat.

Liam backtracked quickly, "I meant no disrespect, I was only saying that he is one of Isaak's fighters!"

"That's his gift? Is he a good fighter?" Peter asked, getting back on track.

"It is said that he is, yes. This is his first time here." Liam said.

"What happens if I lose? What do our next competitors do?" Jasper asked him.

"They receive a bye. At the end of paired fighting, the ones who did not get to fight are then paired up and fight." Liam said.

"Sounds complicated," Char commented.

"It is not. Just don't lose and you won't have to worry about it," Liam said hotly.

"Al'righty then, movin' on," Nevell said.

"Ok. Jasper fights a woman named Rosa next? What does she do?" Peter asked.

"Rosa is Dhampir. Her talent is to deflect others' powers," Liam explained, "She has made it to the final rounds several times, but never won overall. She has always made it because the newly gifted tend to use their gifts too much and she can easily defeat them in first round eliminations. Her fighting skills have improved each time she has been here, but not up to the level of the fighters who rely only on their fighting ability. She is with the Spaniards now, but she originally came from North America."

"OK, easy enough, what about this last one? Airryial?" Jasper stuttered over the name.

"She can move wind." Liam said simply.

"She farts?" Fucking Peter.

"No," Liam was not appreciative of Peter's crass humor, "She can move air. Watch that she does not blind you with sand. It is her favorite thing to do. She, like Rosa, has been here before. She has been around for many years, never winning the championship, but always getting to the final rounds. I believe she is Russian, but the Italians have her this go around."

"Italians, as in Caius?" Liam nodded, "Lovely, you'll be killing one of the Russians 'stock' and one of Volturi's 'stock'." I muttered.

"It is all the nature of the Games," Liam scoffed at my sarcasm. I didn't tell him it would mean more now and eventually when it was found out who we were. Liam should have already figured that out.

"Where are Alice and Maria's fighters?" Peter asked, looking over the names.

"Alice did not have fighters. She was a supplier. As for Maria's fighters, Maria has disappeared, as you know. She will not be represented here. If she had any fighters left, they cannot come without her representation."

We'd told Liam very little. He knew something happened, but not exactly what. For obvious reasons, we were keeping that tidbit of information under our hats.

"Tell us about my last fight. Baile?" I said.

"He is… a blue man. It is not made clear how the skin is changed to that color, but he is mostly Vampire although he was once a shapeshifter. He no longer changes shape. Or he chooses not to, I am unsure. He is a good fighter. Baile, like the others, has fought in final rounds. A very good fighter."

"I must go," Liam said suddenly, without elaborating on the 'very good fighter' part, "You may watch the fights, but make sure ye know when yer time is to fight. A forfeit is death." And then Liam left.

"Maybe one of the bird shifters is a pterodactyl and we can pay them to fly us out of here if shit starts hittin' the fan." Char grumbly mused.

"Are you seriously thinking we should leave?" I asked.

"No," Peter answered for his mate, "I have a good feeling about this."

"We're goin' to win?"  
"Today, I believe, yes…that is if it all goes right." Peter gave an affirmative nod.

"…If it all goes right? In others words ya don't know." Jasper told him dryly.

Peter shrugged, unperturbed.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

Before leaving the room again, I decided the clothing I was wearing needed some alterations.

We wouldn't be coming back here before the fights started, and I wanted to be comfortable and make my weapons more accessible.

I re-strapped my blades to my forearms, making sure that they were secured and wouldn't be seen. The long sleeved, tight shirt I wore to fight was a dark maroon, same as the rest of our shirts. Char thought it was appropriate that we were color coordinated. I didn't think so, but I knew it was something that was occupying her mind and a distraction for the upcoming events, so I had let it be.

I cut off the cuffs of the shirt at the wrists so the knives could slide into my palms easily. Re-adjusting the shoulder sheath for my katana, I made the sword sit against my spine instead of diagonally. It would hide it from my opponent. Maybe it will make them forget that it was there when we fought. I wouldn't use it unless it was absolutely necessary. A girl's got to have some surprises up her sleeves. Pun intended.

The longer it took me to use the katana and the knives, the longer it would take the rest of this place to realize that we had usable weapons.

Jasper changed as well, the only difference was that he left the katana off altogether. He wasn't proficient with it yet and he said he felt more comfortable in the individual rounds fighting without it. He did strap knives to his forearms. Beyond the shirts, everyone but Edward and Ivan wore leather pants. Edward sported a simple pair of Levis.

I asked Jasper about his gift and how the emotions in this place were affecting him. He said he was more in control than he had ever been before. He found he could cut off the flux of emotions and, if he wanted, he could manipulate the flow.

Mac gave us commentary on what was going on in Mexico while we got ready. There had been a lot of talk and speculation about what happened to us. Mac and the team were running interference and doing what they could to cover our asses as to why we weren't around to answer the barest of questions.

Rucker was doing his part as well to detract those who wanted to challenge us.

Mostly, they were telling everyone that we were out scouting and making a list of all the places we wanted to get rid of and the changes we would implement. Mac's team was actually doing that, sans us.

Zafrina was calling every few hours asking for updates, as was Eleazar. The only difference was that Eleazar was being nice. Zafrina was bent out of shape because she didn't get her way and she was taking it out on our team. I told Mac if it got too bad, I would try to figure out a way to 'talk' to her in a couple days and he could tell her so. I also told him to tell her I said to back the fuck off. I wouldn't be so nice if I had to 'talk' to her while I was here.

I liked the woman dearly, and she'd bent over backwards to help us at critical points in the last ten years, but I'd be damned if she was going to rip my people new assholes because I wasn't there to run interference. She had another thing coming. At this point in time, my mood was hostile and Zafrina was going to get the brunt end of my wrath if she didn't back off.

Wait until 'everyone' found out Vladimir was my damn Sire. Shit. Mac would give birth to a herd of cows.

I wasn't sure what to do about that or if I even could do anything about it. It is what it is. Vlad could make a lot of trouble for all of us, especially me, by raising a fuss. However, if he did tell on us, then he would have to admit to chasing Carlisle, making deals with Esme, conspiring against Alice and then how he'd kidnapped me and left me to wake up from the change alone.

I knew my time with him wasn't over yet. He would seek me out. I couldn't wait.

When we were ready, we slipped back into our robes and went back out to the stadium stands. Sitting in the same place as we did last time, we prepared to watch the beginning rounds of the individual fights.

We watched as they prepared for the fights to begin. The stadium was now filled with robed spectators. Only a few wore robes with the hoods down, revealing their identities. We took note of as many as we could. Sovereignty sat directly across from us in a raised box with more guards than the crowned jewels would have.

Edward's face tilted from side to side like he had some nervous tick or something, but we knew he was 'listening.' Good boy.

There were no frills or any bedazzling to any of it. It was drab and an eerie calm had settled over the place now that everyone seemed to be here and in place. Fighters roamed here and there, but mostly everyone stayed in designated areas. Anyone who detoured to off limit areas was quickly corrected of their error.

We decided to watch the first fights and then Jasper, Edward and I would go down to prepare for my first fight. It wouldn't look odd if Jasper went because he was an individual fighter as well. Edward came because he was represented as our medic, and being at the gate was closer to his targets. He said the buzz of everyone's minds made it difficult sometimes to zone in on who he wanted. Human blood or not, there were so many preternatural here with all different 'frequencies' that it interfered with Edward's gift.

The rest of us would stay in the stands and would communicate with us through our COM's.

The first fighters emerged just as the sunset. They came out of the doors on either side of the arena, much to the enjoyment of the crowd as they rose to their feet, cheering.

Golden robed, un-hooded vampires, with Giants as shadows, appeared and walked amongst the spectators like vendors. It took us a bit to figure out what hell they were doing. Then, as the first fighters came out and stood on their prospective mounds of sand, the vendors began taking bets. Ah, they were bookies of sorts. The Giants' presence insuring their livelihood I presumed.

An announcer at the top of the stadium, behind the Sovereignty box directly across from us, raised a mega phone announcing the fighters and to whom they belonged.

As we waited, we took in the fighters.

The one on the right was stocky, but not overly so. He was the first one I'd seen here that looked normal. He stood as a vampire still staring down his competitor, one of the green scaly vampires from our first encounter.

Minutes later, the announcer blew a whistle and the fight began.

The green man, Sherman, as the announcer had introduced him, didn't hesitate as he lunged for the other vampire. The normal vampire, Clive, shot away from his attacker quickly, dodging the move.

They rushed and hedged for a few minutes until Sherman finally got a hold of Clive. The green scaly man took Clive to the sand, rolling him around in a spray of sand until Sherman finally stood up. Underneath him laid Clive, taken apart in so many pieces, that you could no longer tell what parts went where.

I looked to Char, my eyes bugging out. Sherman was an alligator.

Char hissed at me, "No teeth!"

I actually snickered. I was making no promises. Char really hadn't liked going alligator hunting with me.

"He probably wouldn't piss on you," I told her under my breath.

Everyone but Nevell and Peter were giving us strange looks. I glanced at Jasper and said 'later' under my breath.

Our humor was quickly gone when Sherman dashed to the side, getting a lighter from a Giant. The alligator man piled the pieces of broken wrecked vampire he'd destroyed and lit the exposed venom.

The crowd cheered and I held back my gag.

The famous incense flavored smoke floated, drifted, and then dissipated into the night sky.

When Sherman left, the next fighters came out.

We watched several exhibitions before the three of us made our way out. As we made our way down the stadium bleachers, I was aware of the eyes from our rivals following our progress.

One of the Giants leading down the ramp out of the stadium made grunting noises as we told him where we were headed. Another Giant came forward, leading us around the curve of the stadium to what looked like a holding area.

Fighters didn't mingle outside their own groups. They stood in small isolated groups waiting in cue for their turns. Some stood alone. You could smell and feel the fear in the air.

I wasn't afraid, but I was hit with nerves as we found a place against the back of the stadium away from everyone else.

I knew I was a good fighter.

I knew I could do this.

The three of us didn't talk to each other.

Peter and Ivan gave us brief commentary through our COM's about the fight that was going on in the arena.

Closing my eyes, I let my head hit the wooden wall behind me. Visions of the Labs over the last ten years swam in my head. Experiments. Tortured. Pained. Fear. No morals. No thoughts to the living. No thoughts to the created. No shame. No remorse.

Faces swirled and danced before me, the living and the dead, fueling me with the desire to kill for the injustice done over the years.

Was I doing the right thing? It was too late to ponder that morality now, wasn't it? The person I was going to fight didn't deserve death. Someone could be waiting for them somewhere. Someone could love them. Love could be born in a lab, couldn't it? It could be frothed from a training facility just as likely as it could from the beaches of some exotic island.

These people…creatures I was to fight, were here to fight for their lives. I was going to end it. Bottom line, my family, my friends and my mate were more important to me. If we didn't come here, if we didn't take this opportunity, we could spend years upon years like we had previously. Many more would have died in those years than would die here today. It was a small comfort that we were working for the Greater Good. These games would continue with or without us. The facilities of persecution would rise again and again, even though we took them down.

It was never ending. The way to end it would be to last as long as we could, give what information we could to Mac, and pray he could do something more than put dents in the scheme of this charade. Because before now, that's all we'd been doing. Putting dents in a society that had been established centuries ago. This wasn't their first Rodeo. This wasn't the first time they'd come under fire. They always prevailed.

I was damned if I was going to let it continue.

We'd take them out from the outside in.

This extreme chance we were taking, to take them down for good, was crazy and asinine. But maybe in the end, it would pay off.

It _would_ pay off. Positive thinking.

I bounced on my toes.

The thing of it was; it wasn't the Games themselves that bothered any of us. More power to them. But these creatures were made specifically for them and that's wherein the true problem lies. These creatures would never see the light of day other than to come here and fight for their lives. The labs that created them, the scientists paid to create them, was what needed to stop. They needed to stop destroying innocent lives. We needed to stop them.

Some of these creations that were here were the result of hundreds, if not thousands, of needless deaths. They weren't made for any purpose other than to fight here and establish a status amongst them. I'm sure there were many reasons that drove the people in the stands to be here. The bottom line was that none of them had any morals or thought, other than to plug a hole in their boring lives.

I took a deep breath and reached for the bond that tied me with my mate. He was worried. I sent him a dose of understanding and love and he was in front of me in a heartbeat.

His hands gently held my face and I couldn't help but open my eyes.

"Don't leave me," he breathed, "You come back out of that ring, you hear me? I feel your emotions and I know you're fightin' this darlin', but don't you dare do anythin' stupid." His eyes intensely bore into mine.

"I promise," I breathed. The man in front of me would bring me back here. I would fight, kill and walk away because the man in front of me and our main goal would make me strong enough to stay on course. I would not attack those in the stands. I would not do anything but fight and walk away. Focus.

The people we would kill today would be avenged, even if we were the ones who killed them.

I nodded, "I know. I'll be back."

"Just do what you always do. Do what I saw you do in that field in Ireland. Don't lose your head. Let them make the first move. Assess them. Find their weaknesses and play on them. If you have to, use your knives and katana." He told me.

"You're up," Edward said as one of the Giants approached us.

I ignored him.

I had to smile a little at Jasper's instructions, "I'll be right back Jasper. You know I _do_." I couldn't say it out loud. We were drawing attention as it was. I couldn't tell him now but I could let him feel it, and I did. I sent him the largest sum of love I could manage.

He smirked, sending it back.

The Giant now next to us grunted and reached for my arm. His patience had run out and he was going to drag me into the ring. I quickly sidestepped him and dodged around him, going to the massive wooden doors.

I took in a deep breath, releasing it as the Giant opened one side of the gate.

Sand.

What seemed like endless amounts of sand spread out before me as I gave one quick glance back to Jasper and Edward and gave Jasper another shot of love. He sent me a symphony of encouragement, pride and love.

I flitted out onto the sand, flexing my fingers and turning my complete focus on the task at hand.

Monstress came forward in a rush, overtaking my sight. We scanned our space and she relented, settling back to let me lead. Her fur rolled under my skin, adding strength to my limbs and senses. Knowing she was so near the edge of me was a comfort of mammoth proportions.

The doors opened at the far end and in stocked Eliza, the shape-shifting hyena.

As Liam said she would be, she was in hyena form. Larger than normal was an understatement. As with the wolves I was used to in La Push, she was so much larger than the original form her body now took.

Hyenas were small.

Eliza was huge. Her shoulder was at least as tall as my own. Her head, if upright, would have towered over me. But she held her head down in a hunting stance as she approached her markers.

In the middle of the arena, separated by thirty feet were flags in the middle of those sandy mounds, close to the ground. We had been instructed to stop just short of them to wait for our signal to fight.

I stopped like I was supposed to and watched her stalk to her place. Her movements were jerky and stiff, but sure, never a falter or hesitation.

I assessed her; I could tell she held her strength in her front legs and her neck. Her jaws were gaping and saliva dripped to the sand as she shifted her weight from one foot to another. Her legs didn't seem to know how to stop moving.

I let the sounds around me fade away.

I cut the link off as best I could to Jasper. His emotions would only distract me and mine would drive him crazy. He had been the one to suggest it in our room while we had prepared.

I felt the breeze glaze over me as it moved around us, making my hair sway with its whispers, as it passed over us. The scents of the arena were a little overwhelming with death. The ashes of previous fighters lay scattered around us, mixing with the sand, changing the tan coarse grains sporadically into brown and black.

I left my hands loose at my sides, my knees unlocked in an easy stance. I gave nothing away as to my ability to fight. My eyes, hard and cold, stared into my opponent's beady black eyes.

She was hunched forward slightly, ready to charge me. I'm sure I looked so much smaller to her, a weakness she could easily exploit. But if she actually attacked me, as she seemed intent on, she was in for a big surprise. Her body indicated she was going to use a frontal assault.

She smiled that hyena smile at me, showing me her teeth. I widened my eyes slightly and tensed my body slightly, but enough so that she would notice, as if I feared her. More saliva than before dripped down her jowls, splatting into the sand below her as she let out a hyena laugh, believing my feigned fear.

Sloppy of her.

I could see in her eyes that she'd underestimated me. My stance and show of visual fear had easily tricked her. If she'd scented the air however, she would have only smelled my anticipation, not fear.

Because I had tuned everything out, the whistle's sudden sound took me by surprise.

I watched her shoulders tense, muscles gather and the hyena charged.

Straight forward. Her legs fed the pads of her feet and she dug into the sand, coming at me head on.

The few feet of ground between us gave me the time to react to her attack.

As she approached, I jumped straight in the air as far as I could.

As she passed under me I slammed my legs down into her neck, she let out a shriek of surprise and pain.

Her momentum took her forward into the sand, head first, and she tunneled a trench of spraying sand in her downfall.

The impact jarred me, and as I hit the ground, I stumbled slightly before I found my footing and I spun to crouch, waiting for her counter attack.

She didn't move.

She lay in the sand unmoving. Not breathing.

I heard the crowd boo.

Was she dead? I had heard her neck creak, but I didn't think I broke it, only cracked it.

I guess I was wrong.

I waited.

Nothing.

I slowly stood out of my crouch, and began approaching her.

She made no move, the crowd hushed as I neared her.

I wiped sand from her face and found her beady glassy eye of death staring back at me.

She was dead.

I pushed back the disappointment that she didn't fight better, that she wasn't more of a challenge. The beast inside me was still tense with the need to kill and tear her apart. Monstress wanted to eat her.

I wept on the inside momentarily for her death as I stood and flitted to the side to get the lighter from the Giant official.

He tossed it to me before I got to him and I turned, blurring back across the sand.

I didn't want to light her on fire. I didn't want to end her existence. But in truth, I already had.

I bent down, saying a quick breathless prayer, and then lit her venom on fire.

I stepped back quickly, tossing the lighter to the Giant from where I stood, and watched her burn. I wouldn't do her the indignity of not watching her true death.

When the last of her smoldering body gave the last wisps of smoke, I skirted around her ashes, blurring to the doors of my entrance.

Jasper was there in seconds, guiding me away from the next fighters in line waiting their turn.

I opened up our link. Love and pride rushed me as my pain for what I had done flooded him. He grabbed my upper arm and squeezed it reassuringly as we dodged through the creatures standing around, making our way back to the stands where Peter and the rest waited for us.

As we approached them, each nodded to me, but no one spoke. Other fighters surrounded us and any interaction would be scrutinized. I had won, and easily. I knew I instantly had a target on my back. Just as we all eventually would.

We watched other battles. Some lasted just as short as mine, some longer. It seemed as more time passed, the fighters got increasingly better, just as Liam had told us.

There were only three more fights before mine and again Jasper and Edward accompanied me down to the doors.

Fighters lined up along the outside walls as Giants roamed the area, keeping a lock down on any unnecessary activity. Owners milled about with their fighters, giving last minute instructions.

I faced the backside of the stadium coldly. I reminded myself of the day that I would put a stop to all of this. If not the Games themselves, then the Labs and experiments that led to them.

Where would these creatures go, I wondered, when it was all over? Could any of them survive outside of what they knew? Survive the real world? They'd been born in a lab, at least most of them, or trained to fight and survive. Some of them had been here for years. I could tell by the scars and the vacant stares of those who had seen too much. Some felt ancient in age to me. Like the Giants. I wasn't sure if they felt that way to me because they were ancient, or if it came with their lineage.

There were others though that seemed to be high with adrenaline, waiting for their turn. A few harassed and tried to psyche out other fighters. You were allowed, it seemed, to brow beat someone all day, you just couldn't touch them. Most all of the fighters didn't speak English, and I only understood half of them. Others only hissed and growled at everyone and laughed if someone flinched from their antics.

I heard the crowd cheer, signaling the end of a match.

No one came through the door when the fight within was done. The fighter that entered from this side didn't make it out alive.

The fighter in front of me entered the ring.

I was up next.

I shook my head and snapped it back and forth, trying to get rid of the tension from my body. Closing my eyes, I centered myself once again, feeling Monstress rise beneath my skin.

"Ready?" Jasper whispered.

I opened my eyes as the gate opened and the fighter before me exited. I nodded.

The Giant holding the wooden door motioned me forward.

I heard the gate shut with a hollow wooden 'boom' as I stepped out into the ring.

My opponent hadn't entered yet.

I slowly moved across the sand, waiting for the far door to open and for the blue guy to come out.

Just as I got a few feet from my mark, the gate opposite slid opened. I blinked and the guy was standing in front of me.

Shit fire! This guy was lightening fast. My breath caught sharply before I pulled myself together and took him under scrutiny.

His eyes gazed back, assessing me. They held a red tinge that all vampires earned from drinking human blood. Vampire.

"_Nothing more than a vampire, Monstress."_ Was I reassuring her or me?

"_Faaasssttt, usssse agaaainst hiiiim_," Monstress yowled.

"_Easier said than done_," I told her.

I heard the whistle blow and just as quickly, I was lying flat on my back, listening to laughter come from my attacker who'd danced away. The 'ooh's' from the crowd were loud and obnoxious.

I sprang to my feet quickly; he was coming at me again. Fuck he was fast. I blinked, changing my vision so I could track him, but I was too late to dodge. He slammed into me, thunder boomed and I was thrown across the arena fifty feet. At least I saw the blue smudge that was him before he hit this time. Not that I could've done anything about it.

His laughter echoed. Idiot. He was playing me.

He thought he was funny.

Stupid mistake.

I landed on my back, taking my momentum I flipped over backward to land on my feet.

He stood taunting, not twenty feet away. I could see the blue signature of his body waving his arms at me, motioning me to attack.

I stood quietly waiting.

He didn't move.

I waited some more.

As I waited I flexed my arm, dropping a throwing knife from my sleeve and palming the hilt, letting the blade rest on my forearm, unseen.

The crowd began to hiss, and my opponent lost patience.

He stormed me.

This time, I could see him move as I tracked his life signature across the sand.

He put his hands out as if to push me again. The very last second I feigned right, and went left, slashing out at his exposed side. He'd taken the bait and his sideways motion couldn't be corrected before I felt the knife find purchase in his side. I felt the knife slide between his ribs and come out the other side.

The spray of his venom washed over my hand and arm before I blurred away from him.

Slipping my knife back up my arm, I replaced it in its sheath, and crouched arms extended, waiting for his next move. Few would have seen what I had done, given the speed we moved. The attack this time had lasted maybe two seconds total.

I had heard him cry out behind me as I turned to crouch and prepare for his next move.

He stood holding his side, venom running over his fingers, soaking his shirt and pants. He wasn't laughing anymore. He looked startled.

'Magine that.

"_Yesssss, again_" Monstress hissed.

He was pissed now. Off his game, it wasn't a joke to him any longer.

His eyes told me that he wanted my pain.

My advantage again. He thought I was an easy win, he was enraged. I played on both weaknesses now. Speed and anger.

I stood still, watching his movements as he rushed me. The muscles in his legs and shoulders telling me what I needed to know.

His body's muscles clenching, telling me he made to feign left and attack from the right, trying to get around to my back. As he passed by me, I flipped where I stood. My head now above him, I spun with my legs in the air to follow his movement. He lashed out at me where I no longer stood.

I snatched his arm in mid strike and when I came down behind him, I took his arm with me, bringing it behind him as I landed at his backside.

I heard it snap in my grip at the shoulder, my other arm wrapping around his neck, I yanked him backward. He gave a startled shriek but before he could balance himself, I let his broken arm go and grabbed his head. Without hesitating I twisted, popping his head off with a sickening plopping noise.

Venom once again sprayed over me.

I panted as I threw his head away from me and his body sagged to the ground, limbs twitching.

The crowd was deafening.

I made my way to the Giant, halfway to him, he tossed me the lighter and as before I stayed to watch my assailant's body burn.

When I walked out this time and opened the bond, Jasper gave me nothing but love.

Why did it have to be to the death? What a waste of life. I shoved the emotions down.

Adrenaline pumped in my veins and I was aware that I didn't feel as bad as I should. Fighting was intense and it roiled up in me, feeding the vampire beast in me.

I looked up at the midnight sky. Jasper's fights would start in a couple hours or so. His first one should be in the dark of night. The other two would be mid morning if our estimates were right.

Jasper pointed to a ladder ten feet away from the gate. I raised an eyebrow at him and sent some curiosity.

"The fighter's team can climb the wall to watch the fight," He told me. Ah that was the tower near the gates I'd seen earlier. Different people were in them every fight, now it made sense.

"That's where you watched me from?" I asked.

He nodded.

I turned to Edward, "You get anything?"

He nodded, "I'll get it to them later." He said and I took it he would tell Mac when he got a minute.

"I'm proud of you," I said to Jasper. I'd only heard him yell once.

"I held him down," Edward said conspiratorially.

I snorted as Jasper shrugged, "I did well." He said.

"Yes, you did."

We blurred back to the stands to sit with the rest of our gang.

They patted my back. I knew there were mixed emotions washing around through us, but I could tell the emotions were changing slowly. They had started shifting the last time I was here. If it wasn't for the killing part, we could totally get into this. I knew my group well enough to know that they were feeling the fighting lust. The frenzy that comes with spilled venom or blood, and it was feeding us. The spilt venom on me helped it along.

My group wasn't the only ones. I could smell the anticipation in the air and watched as the Giants had to escort more than one group of fighters who let their lust get the better of them, out of the stands. You couldn't fight before you were in the ring and we were all monitored with professional scrutiny.

We watched a few more fights and then the announcer guy called a brief stand down. Whatever the fuck that meant. Minutes later Liam was there, escorted by the ever present Giants. Man, those guys were fucking everywhere.

He motioned to me when he found us in the crowd and we made our way down to him. He led us back out of the stands to the back of the stadium.

"Ye did well," He started and I glared at him, he huffed and continued, "Ye have been drawn to fight one of the bye fighters," Liam informed me.

"Drawn?"

"Ey, I told you earlier," He sounded frustrated, "Fighters who are set up to fight, and the fighter does not live long enough to fight. The blue man you conquered, he was set to fight again. You must fight that man now."

I did remember that.

"She's not fighting again," Jasper gritted.

"She must, or she might as well go turn herself into Vladimir right now," Liam said.

Every one of us gasped.

"Why?" my body felt like it was on nails. Did Vladimir finally say something?

"You would forfeit the fight if you chose to not fight, you will be fighting Vladimir's fighter," Liam gave me an exasperated expression, unknowing of the battle that raged inside me. I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't because of Vlad, but the forfeit.

"Alright," I said.

Again Jasper tried to argue.

"I'll be fine. Just like the first two times," I told him.

Our little group was circled tight, but our voices had risen to bring attention. Jasper took notice to that and backed down, none too happy.

This time when we went to stand in cue, the whole gang followed.

"Who am I fighting?" I asked Liam.

"Another shapeshifter. He is well known here at the fights. This will be his first and only fight, none of his other opponents made it through to fight him." Liam said breathlessly.

"Will he be in shifter shape?" Jasper asked.

Liam looked thoughtful. "I doona know. He has fought in both and is proficient in either form."

"And his other form?" I asked impatiently.

"Ey, He is… _Orci_." Liam said quietly.

"_Orci_?" Ivan baulked, having heard Liam.

"Ey," Liam nodded. He looked a little too excited for his own good.

"What? What is that?" I asked frustrated. By the look on Ivan's face it wasn't good.

"Gorilla." Ivan answered for Liam.

Oh.

Fuck shit.

"Is he only Shifter or is he Vampire too?" I asked.

"I'm not sure what all he is or was or how he came about. Does it really matter?" Liam's huffing answer pissed me off. It was like it wasn't important to him to give us information nor did he care what the fuck the creation was I was going to fight. All the fuck he cared about was if _he_ won or not. I could tell by his face the excitement he was feeling. I didn't need Jasper's gift to feel it; it was loud an' clear on his face and body language.

The first chance I got, I was going to hit that fucker. I was scowling at him when Jasper drew my attention away from Liam and my fantasy of pummeling him to dust.

"Zee." Jasper whispered. I could hear the plea in his voice, but really what was I supposed to do?

"I know, I'll be fine Cattegirn," letting him know in the bond that I was fine with this.

Liam left us at the gate area, stomping off I'm sure, frustrated with me just as I was at him. Just for entirely different reasons.

Our group stood off to the side from everyone, but within sight of the watchful eyes of the Giants.

I flexed my fingers over and over. Liam hadn't given me much information about my upcoming fight. I knew it was because we'd started to garner attention and speculation that I was fighting again. I didn't dwell on it. I focused instead on drawing once again on Monstress.

Jasper and I communicated with emotions. He sent me positive motivating encouragement, although I could still detect his worry. Yet, his confidence fueled my own.

All too soon, I was being motioned to enter the ring. I hadn't been paying attention to the noise of the crowds or keeping track of who entered or who didn't exit. I had a feeling that this was going to be a whole new ball game.

Just as before, I entered the arena.

And, just as before, I made my way to the center marker.

My opponent was already waiting. In vampire form, at least that's what my senses told me he was. It's what my alternate vision showed him as. The blue haze color of a vampire was a little off however. It wasn't quite vampire. But that's what I was going with.

He was huge. Not Giant huge, but larger than Emmett. His shoulder width made me pause. He was intimidating. His muscles bulged and he flexed as he made grunting noises.

Oi.

Ape boy was on his game. He'd been slighted his other fights and he was raring to go.

I made note to avoid his thighs at all costs. The boy could crack my skull between them without altering his step.

Fuck, boy was huge. What was it with big muscle bound men around here? If he was a bit taller and bald I'd think he was a Giant. But as it was, he had a full head of long black dread-locked hair. His skin was dusky chocolate and the usual pale pallor of a vampire barely touched him. His features were beautiful for such a large man. I wasn't into beef, but you couldn't deny him his appeal.

This time I made sure to keep track of the announcer.

The man before me bent over slightly, not in a crouch but more like a hunch. I assumed it to be his fighting stance. I let my arms hang loose at my sides and flexed my fingers fast.

When the whistle blew, big man didn't make a move. His eyes focused solely on me didn't waver, and I could tell he could and would stand there all day waiting for my advance.

Oh, boy.

I feigned left and he watched me.

I feigned right, even taking a step forward, and he watched me.

He didn't move.

"_Huuuunts looow. Looong reeeach,"_ I looked down at the guy's arms and saw what Monstress had seen. His arms did have a longer reach than was norm.

He was going to make me attack. Fuck it.

I dashed toward him and he watched me come.

Leaving my body loose to not indicate intent, I jumped when I got four feet from him. Instead of jumping toward him however, I went straight in the air.

He'd stepped forward anticipating a straight foreword assault. He tried to correct himself quickly, taking a step back, as I came down, I round housed, aiming for his head.

He saw it coming and turned with the hit. My foot found purchased on his shoulder, doing no damage to him at all.

I landed and leapt back out of arms reach.

He was already stepping back to me with his arm outstretched to grab me. I knew if he got a hold of me, I was in for a world of hurt.

Instead of retreating, I took a quick step forward with my left foot over my right, and spun backward around his searching hand, twisting my body and trying to time it just right to find purchase in his ribcage.

He saw the move coming and instead of landing the blow to his ribs, my elbow hit shoulder blade.

Monstress was right, he fought low. He'd chosen to duck the blow instead of pulling back or jumping up. I idly wondered if the guy could jump at all. I really didn't want to find out or give him the chance to.

This time, I didn't back down or retreat. I quickly kicked again.

My right foot found purchase this time in his kidney, sending him stumbling back. I went at him again, but he was fast to recover, too fast, I didn't even see the right hook coming. His fist slammed into my head and I must have flown ten feet back. I landed on my feet in a crouch, growling.

I could feel the venom spray from my open panting mouth, soaking my chin from the cut in my cheek.

He was crouched, facing me in his waiting stance again.

Monstress and I shook ourselves and charged before he could think too much.

We fought. Landing hits to each other in a blur of hands, feet, arms, and legs. I let myself go, no thinking, just doing.

He caught my head once more and my rib cage twice.

His meaty hand found my calf once, after I had kicked his chest. I wasn't fast enough pulling back and with his long reach he grabbed me and pulled my knee out of its socket. His grip didn't release, as it should have when I twisted around and I'd thought he was going to pull my leg off from the knee down. I'd landed a foot to his head while I spun from his grip and he let go just in time.

His brutal clutch had wrenched the muscles and torn my kneecap clear out of joint.

Now I had a limp.

I would heal as long as he didn't get a hold of it again.

I ended up on the ground as he tried to find his balance from the kick to the head and I followed through with a kick to the side of his knee. I heard it shatter. He fell to the broken knee as it gave out and I made my move.

I was at his backside in a fraction of a second, wrapping my arms around his neck. His arms came around grabbing my legs, thwarting my attempt at keeping them away from him. His hand wrapped around my torn knee and squeezed.

Considering his reach, I should have anticipated the move.

He stomped, snarled, growled, twisted and shook, trying to dislodge me. I held onto his neck, pulling back with every bit of strength I had.

Suddenly, I found myself underneath him and the air in my lungs gone. He'd surged up, slamming himself backwards, effectively capturing me underneath him.

My left arm was tucked under his chin with my right hand holding my elbow, skillfully holding my arm in place. I knew it would be easy to slip my left hand into my sleeve and withdraw my knife. But I stopped short as the guy got his legs under him again and fast as lightening, he let go of my legs, pushed with his legs and arms, and crashed me into the sand again with his weight, crushing me into the earth.

Holding my unrelenting grip on his neck, I wheezed at the force of it while pushing back the pain of my leg.

Now or never.

Pulling with my left arm I jerked back lifting his chin, I dug my fingers into his neck and pulled sideways. Disgusting, but efficient.

Cold red blood spayed out over us as his pulse pumped.

He gurgled and struggled, rolling to the side, and I helped him out, rotating him off of me.

As soon as I was on my feet, I was reaching down and pulling his head the rest of the way off. My fingers had made a purchase point for my hand to hold, and it gave me leverage for my fingers to remove his head cleanly and easily.

I stood panting.

Throwing the head aside, I hoped for the last time today, I retrieved a lighter, said a quick prayer and left the arena after Orci man was no longer.

I was bloody this time, not just covered in venom.

I could practically taste it through my skin.

I wanted a shower.

My leg hurt like a fucking bitch.

I exited to find the grim faces of my comrades and mate and an _elated_ Liam.

(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)

As Liam promised, we were done for the next couple of hours and we made our way in a blur to our designated room. They would come get us if I had another fight to endure.

We filed into the room and turning to lock the door behind us, Liam immediately started talking, saying how proud he was of me. How _happy_ he was with the events.

As soon as the lock clicked into place and he turned, I blindsided him with a fist to his face.

He shrieked, holding his broken, venom soaked nose.

Ivan grabbed me to pull me back when I made to hit the bastard again, and Jasper was there snarling at Ivan.

Ivan quickly let go, "No harm meant."

Jasper didn't pay attention to him as he swept me up, taking me to the showers.

The others pretended to not hear us, focusing instead on Liam's whining as Jasper checked me from head to toe as he took off my clothes. He searched for injuries making me open my mouth to see if I'd healed from the first blow the Orci had given.

When he was finally satisfied that he'd cleaned me well enough, and reset my knee, he redressed me from the large tote Char had slid in the opening for us. There was no door to the showers, just three quarters of a wall with a huge opening.

We could hear the rest of them talking softly. Telling Liam he was stupid and what the fuck did he expect.

Jasper kissed me long and slow and when he was done, he put his forehead to mine and we simply drew in each other's scents.

"Shit," He whispered.

"That was a rough one. But I'm ok." I told him running my hands through his hair and he ran circles on my back in slow swooping motions.

"I'm so proud of you," He said.

"Thank you," I murmured.

"Why didn't you use the sword, ya could have taken him out in less than a minute," he said.

"Probably, but… I would have if it would have come to that. I'm here to survive, not lose now," I told him. "I just don't want to show our entire hand before it's time, ya know?"

He hugged me tighter and said nothing.

"I'm proud of you too, baby." I said and let our bond run full force so he could tell just how much I meant with those words.

He snorted, "Why, because I didn't come in there and kick his ass for you?"

"Yes. And not manipulating him as I know you could have," I told him.

"I trust you, I do. It was hard, but you're one tough cookie,"

"Besides, that," Peter yelled, "we held 'im down and sat on 'is head!"

Jasper shook his head, "They didn't, I promise."

"Yah, but I was about to!" Peter assured me.

"Let's go join them," I kissed him again one last time and we walked out.

Liam flinched visibly but stood his ground.

"Doona ever hit me again," He seethed, pointing his finger at me.

I was in his face instantly.

"Fuck off, ya wanky bastard," shutting him up, "This is not fun and games. I do not take kindly that you're makin' money off other's deaths. Off their fuckin' _pain_. Don't ever let me see that smile on your fuckin' face when you're aroun' me again. I will wipe if off in public next time. If I ask you a fuckin' question about my opponent next time, I want everything you know, including his rank, and serial number!"

I could smell his fear and I made a show of flaring my nostrils, making sure he knew that I knew he was afraid. His eyes widened.

"I –"

"Don't disgrace yourself by apologizing. Both of us know it's a feckin' lie. Don't insult me with insincerities," I growled low and deep, staring him down until he dropped his eyes, giving me his submission. As soon as he realized what he'd done, his eyes snapped back to me, but it was too late. I let a slow sadistic smile creep across my lips and he flinched at the sight.

I can do psychotic well.

"How in tarnation can you put English swearin' into a southern accent like that?" Peter once again and as always, broke the tension.

"Tell me Liam. What do we need to know," I let my voice ease up a bit from psychotic to slightly crazy.

"Um, ey, uh," He cleared his throat, "There is a lot of interest in you, Zee. They're, uh, ye-"

"Com' on, Zee, let 'em go. He can't even talk. I wanna hear this sometime today," Peter said, like he was getting the crazy off the ceiling fan.

I backed off.

"We're listenin'," Nevell told him.

"Like I said, there's a lot of interest. Vladimir especially. He woona know where I found ye, how we met, stuff like that. The others are hoping you lose. Your technique and intensity is something that hasn't been seen in a long time. Vlad has asked for a private discussion with ye. He will not tell me what or why."

I nodded for him to go on.

"I doona know if yer aware, we are to have nine members in our Sovereignty. We are down a member. It has been decided amongst us that we hold a private meeting instead of having court." His voice became less shaky as he talked.

"Is that where ya vote and all that?" Jasper interrupted him.

"Ey." Liam nodded.

"Where is the private meeting going to take place?" Edward asked.

"We will be meetin' in the Giants quarters," Liam informed us, "that smaller buildin' ye saw when we flew in."

"Very well. Go on." Jasper motioned.

"There have been members invited to come, we will be… uh, interviewing potential future Sovereignty members to replace the missing member."

"Lovely," my voice was sarcastic.

"They should be starting the Gifted fights soon, I must go. I will give you updates when possible," and as he always did, he quickly slipped out the door once he unlocked it.

"Can you cut everything else out and concentrate on them from here, or do we need to clear a path and get closer to them when they do their little talks?" Jasper asked Edward.

"We can start here, as long as it's quiet in the room I can focus around it. I've got a pretty good grip on the quintessence of Liam's mind. If not, I don't think we'll have to get close enough for any of them to know I'm around."

"Vlad's got to know you're reading his mind, has he given you anything good?"

"He keeps forgetting I can read his mind when he's watching the fights. Liam's right, he's very interested in you Zee. He wants to know how you survived and how you know Liam and all of it. Actually, if you don't mind, I need a place I can talk to someone else for a few minutes," Edward said tapping his ear.

We all agreed, telling him to go in the showers.

Things were heating up and Jasper hadn't even fought yet.

Things were going to get interesting.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**Whatcha think?**

**I know this is the third chapter this week. I can't help myself. Lol I'm sitting on my hands and closing the laptop until Sunday when I update the next chapter. **

**Sunday! Promise. **

**Please leave me your wordy words ;)**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N**

**My hands are officially asleep! Sitting on them seemed to work though. I'm oh so proud of myself! You have no idea how hard it was.**

**Why wait? Because I'm still working on a couple of ending chapters and I want to make sure the one I'm working on doesn't have to post tomorrow cause I'm over zealously posting before planned. I'm a week and a half ahead of myself. Or two. I don't want to make you wait for the last chapter for a week or more without a post. Did that gobblidy goop make sense?**

**LetsJustDance and Bripearl having been working overtime for me the last couple weeks while I've thrown these chapters at them one right after the other. I bow to them for keeping my words inline and putting up with me! They are are wonderful!**

**On with the show!**

**FIRST DAY and a HALF ~ Non-Gifted are done / Gifted will fight now. These are true elimination rounds~ they are to death. Individual rounds are listed and given to Owners ~ they'll know who they're fighting. Gifts are not listed with the names and species type.**

_**Previously;**_

"_We can start here, as long as it's quiet in the room I can focus around it. I've got a pretty good grip on the quintessence of Liam's mind. If not, I don't think we'll have to get close enough for any of them to know I'm around."_

_"Vlad's got to know you're reading his mind, has he given you anything good?"_

_"He keeps forgetting I can read his mind when he's watching the fights. Liam's right, he's very interested in you Zee. He wants to know how you survived and how you know Liam and all of it. Actually, if you don't mind, I need a place I can talk to someone else for a few minutes," Edward said tapping his ear. _

_We all agreed__,__ telling him to go in the showers._

_Things were heating up and Jasper hadn't even fought yet._

_Things were going to get interesting._

**~FIRST DAY ELIMINATIONS II ~GIFTED~**

**~Izzy POV~**

Edward stayed in the back for some time, giving what sounded like locations to training facilities and Labs. Some were more descriptive locations than there were specific addresses. We could find them with some of the landmarks he was giving out. We could hear his soft breaths as he spoke to Mac quickly giving descriptions. I could have turned on the COM in my ear, but I really didn't want the distraction.

Jasper was going to fight and I was watchful of the slow progression in the change of his demeanor. He went from anxious observer watching his mate fight to strategist and fighter right before us.

He'd done so well containing himself while I fought. I wondered honestly if I could do the same for him. I had to. If he could do this, then so could I. Big girl panties.

His first fight was with the Russian male high jumping vampire. That didn't sound too hard. Since gifts weren't listed, Jasper had decided as I had, to not use anything that would give anything away unless he absolutely had to. His would be much easier to hide if used just right, but it would look decidedly funny if his opponent fell over with fear without touching them.

No one could fight against something they didn't know.

Edward finished up and came out to join us. Making sure everything was fine back home; we took off to the stands to watch the beginning gifted fighters.

As we passed the end of the hall, the green scaly men came out to stare us down. Usually they were in the stands flippin' everyone's shit by now. They liked to smack talk, that's for sure.

One of them said something with that thick Cajun accent about Char's ass and Peter dove for him. Ivan and Edward held him back. Peter finally gave up his struggle, with a little help from Jasper, and we quickly left the hallways.

"Ya can't let them get to you. That's what they want," Jasper reprimanded him.

"I know. But there's just somethin' about those guys." Peter grumbled.

"Did you ever notice though, they don't trash talk us as bad as the rest? I'd say they're afraid of us, but their emotions don't match." Jasper told him. The only reason I could hear them was because I was right behind them. They walked side by side and I walked a foot back between them.

"Whatcha feel from 'em?" Peter whispered.

"Mostly? Awe. Respect. It didn't start out like that, but they feel nothin but admiration now." Jasper seemed perplexed and so was I.

They dropped the conversation as we topped the ramp to the stands. Finding a place near the top of the bleachers, we settled in for the show. The green scaly men came in and sat near the middle, far away from us. Besides the occasional glance, they ignored us.

Like Rosalie had told us, there was no way of telling how the fighters in this round were gifted. Others however, were very obvious.

I could feel eyes on me and looked across to the Sovereignty box. I could see Vladimir's steady gaze on me instead of the fights between us. Before I could think about it, I flipped him off. Isaak suddenly put a hand on Vlad's shoulder, like he had in the hallway, holding an angered Vladimir back. I laughed at the teeth Vlad bared in my direction.

"Stop antagonizing the bastard," Jasper whispered from where he sat to my right.

Edward, sitting on my left, whispered, "You keep doing that, he'll send the Giants to bring you to him."

I thought about that. I would rather pick the time and place for our meeting. At least try to. I, in no way, wanted to meet him alone. So I pulled my gaze away from my Sire, and went back to watching the fights.

There was a large range of diversity from fighter to fighter. Some were offensive gifts, some were defensive. Some were very visible; like the guy who let fog roll off his fingertips, incapacitating his opponent. Or when one guy stretched his body like a pretzel to rip the head off his assailant, who had him pinned face down in the sand. He'd made his arms reach behind himself to grab the dhampirs head and quickly remove it.

Double-jointed vampire? Maybe? Was that really considered a gift?

There was a female who shot liquid from her mouth in a torrent, covering her opponent in some kind of grease. He could no longer get a grip on her and she ripped him limb from limb. That was gross.

Some could jump high, or move faster than normal. Others were strength intoned. All in all, I didn't see anything that we couldn't handle. Or Jasper couldn't handle by himself.

The man Edward had told us Huilen was thinking about in the hallway, the guy who formed ice, wouldn't be a problem. He was taken out by a shapeshifter. We weren't sure if iceman had to concentrate too long and hard on his gift or if the shapeshifter in human form made him paralyzed, but it was simple for the shapeshifter to take him out.

What a shame.

A lot of the fighters had to have physical contact to use their gift. As long as Jasper didn't let anyone touch him, he'd be just fine.

It was decided when it was time for Jasper to fight, we all went. Knowing we could stand on top next to the gate like so many others did without drawing attention to ourselves, we wanted to stick together as much as possible.

Jasper's turn came all too soon, and I understood how Jasper must have felt when I had gone into the ring. I would much rather fight than watch.

I tried not to be twitchy, but when Jasper shut our bond down to a trickle, I about panicked. I felt so empty and adrift I had to look at him to make sure he was ok and remind myself that he was fine. It was so different when it was I being cut off instead of the one doing the severing.

After we were out of here, I swear I would never do that again to him. I hoped to god he felt the same way. It was like being cut loose from earth and made to drift in the breeze. Like that illusive balloon at the fair that some little kid lost a grip on and it went floating dizzily into the sky, lost forever.

Taking a fast deep breath to re-balance myself, I followed the others as they scaled the wall to the platform overlooking the arena.

We watched as my mate made his way to his marker.

Daryush, the Russian, came strolling out of his gate like he owned the place. He'd already fought once before, Jasper would be his second go 'round, and he was feeling a little too cocky. Dumbass.

But it made me relax. Daryush's overconfidence gave me assurance.

The announcer introduced them and I noticed the ticket-brokers speeding around taking bets.

Jasper stood stock-still watching Daryush. His hands loose at his side, knees unlocked. God he was beautiful. He had his hair tied back and I could see my mating scar on his neck from here.

Man is mine.

From what we'd seen of Daryush earlier, he liked to jump. His aerobatics in the air were impressive, but not conducive to winning a fight, necessarily. His first fight had been about intimidation and the fighter in the ring with him had been inexperienced as well.

Then the whistle blew and like a jumping jack, Daryush sprang into the air toward Jasper. His body spun and somersaulted, as if he was at the circus. His leap took him maybe twenty feet in the air, spinning and twirling.

Jasper never moved and when Daryush's body came hurtling towards him like a rocket launcher, he simply blurred to the left, turned as Daryush hit the ground, and ripped off his head.

It was done.

Just like my first bout, it lasted all of four seconds.

Jasper torched Daryush and made his way out as the crowd sat, stunned. Having watched jumpin' jack flash earlier, they thought it would at least be a good bout; however, Jasper seeing him fight earlier, gave Jasper the advantage. Daryush had been all about intimidation and showing off his acrobatics.

Jasper hadn't given anything away while in the ring. His next opponent, if watching, wouldn't know anything new about him.

We jumped down to meet Jasper as he exited the arena.

He re-opened our bond immediately, the emptiness abated. Watching him fight, no matter how short it had been, without the bond it was like I was swimming in an ocean without a life preserver.

Giving him a small grin and a huge shot of pride, we stepped back to the side and waited for his next fight. Peter, Nevell and Char went to watch from the stands to scout for any potential gifted problems that we might encounter in the future.

Jasper's next fight with Rosa went a bit differently. Since she could deflect his gift, he wouldn't even try to use it. From our understanding, it was possible that she could bounce it off her and inflict her opponent. He'd only accomplish knocking himself out.

Jasper would have to spar with her.

She didn't have much skill, but she was better than some of the others. She seemed a little thrown off by the fact that Jasper didn't use any gift on her. You could tell that she was waiting for it and when it didn't come, she panicked. It threw her off.

She wouldn't attack first so Jasper had to be on the offensive side of the fight.

Monstress watched and clawed at my shoulders. Our desire to needlessly help our mate was overwhelming at moments.

Rosa got a good punch into Jasper's side as he went for her neck and Ivan had to put a hand on my arm to keep me still. Jasper fell to his knees holding his side, and I thought that Rosa must have gotten a chunk of him somehow. I let out a low mewling growl with my lips curled back from my teeth.

Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, Rosa approached him; Jasper popped up off the ground grabbing her arm and wrenched it behind her back, snapping it off.

Her venom sprayed him and I snarled quietly. He quickly took her head off after throwing her arm away.

He'd faked being hurt and my anger was now directed at him for making me go mad.

When he exited, my eyes narrowed at him as he gave me a smirk. He knew what I had felt and if I didn't know better, I would have thought he did it all on purpose just to show me how he'd felt when I was out there.

The bond gave me reassurance and it reminded me that he was alive and well and knew what he was doing. I backed off. I wanted to check him with my hands and get the other woman's venom off of him, but had to settle with a visual perusal, looking for wet stains on his clothing that would be indicative of skin breakage.

He sent me a wink and accepted the slaps on the back from Ivan and Edward.

We turned to take our places at the side where we had been before the fight, and found that the green men had taken our spot. Truly they were a little disturbing. Knowing what they were didn't take away the creep factor. I think maybe their personalities had something to do with that. It was like they were stalking us. They didn't say anything as we made our way away from them to stand several groups down from them.

They whispered amongst themselves and ignored us and we returned the same courtesy. I was getting confused with their behavior. I wondered idly if they were spying on us for someone. I wasn't sure who they were here with. We would have to discuss it later.

I watched the other groups standing with us behind the gates. The grass was long gone from under our feet from the amount of traffic traveling this area. I tried to be covert and look around in more depth to our surroundings. To our backs was the building holding the preternatural, thirty yards to the left stood the security building we'd seen on the way in. It wasn't very large, maybe a fifth the size of our building. Giants stood on either side of the door, guarding whatever was inside. I can't imagine that any more Giants were inside it; they seemed to be all over the place. I wondered if it held their food. Knowing what they liked to consume, I shuddered at the thought.

Besides the gate in front of us leading to the arena, there was no access to the arena besides scaling the walls. The tower to the right of the gate was occupied at the moment with a Giant and I assumed the teammates of the fighter currently in the ring.

Security had seemed to back off a little bit. They were still there, everywhere really, but they let groups walk unattended now. Everyone was aware of the rules and besides verbal bouts of wits; no one was physically fighting anymore. The Giants had taken care of the first unruly, making an example of them and thus sending a message to the rest. Everyone seemed to have heeded the warnings. The Giants were always an arms length away when verbal sparring got louder than they deemed appropriate, and their presence always snuffed out potential 'touching' in any way.

I reached out with my extra senses and felt for the Giants again, feeling nothing as I always did. Switching to infrared sight, I didn't 'see' them either. They registered as nothing.

That was disturbing to say the least. They were like ghosts of the past.

One of the Giants stepped to us and motioned for Jasper. He was up.

This would be his last fight. It s_hould_ be his last fight, anyway.

We took our positions to watch Jasper once again.

Airryial, controller of air, was a bit different. She used air at her will, and I was a little apprehensive. Jasper of course, had no such worries.

Jasper and Airryial met in the middle at their respective marks, on top of the sandy mounds.

She was tall and thin. The word wispy came to mind. Her long black hair fell past her hips, wrapping around her. She wore a long white thin gown, almost old style Roman looking. Stitching graced the hems of the garment making it whimsical. She would have fit right in with Caesar and his gluttonous court. Everything about her screamed fragile. For a vampire, it was a strange feat to pull off. I had a feeling that she was anything but.

Almost before the whistle blew, so did Airryial. Literally. Sand rose, swirled and then pounded against Jasper at an incredibly high-speed, pushing him backward. He dug in his feet and leaned forward, trying to move ahead.

The sand was like a high-powered power washer, hitting his skin and clothing. His shirt and clothing quickly shredded under the force. Jasper put his head down and pushed back against the torrent, trying to dodge from side to side. The sand followed.

When the sand suddenly stopped, Jasper actually stumbled forward from the shock of not having the resistance.

I gasped as Airryial made her move to attack.

Before the woman could get to Jasper however, she was on the ground, screaming in pain.

Jasper leapt up just as her knees hit the ground and she shrieked in pain.

Her head was gone moments later.

He torched her and I was down the ladder looking for a robe. Someone in a robe was standing by one lone fighter and I demanded it from him. From whatever he saw in my face, not even the Giant stepping up behind me to reprimand me or drag me away stopped the man from doing exactly what I told him. By the time Jasper came out the door, I had it on him, hiding his man bits from the woman behind me. Foolish move, but it was better than attacking anyone who looked at my naked mate. I was having a hard time pushing away the fact that everyone there had seen him practically naked.

Fuck!

My actions brought attention and I would imagine the whole place would know that the Medusa woman was mated to the blond war god. Shit.

Before I'd put him in the robe, I'd gotten a good look. The shredded rags once called clothing had not covered enough of him by far. Better this than his blood and body attracting attention from admirers. No one could beget me that.

Gritting my teeth, I turned and stiffly walked away before my arms found a mind of their own and I started checking him out for injuries. They followed closely behind me. I didn't have my COM on, so I had no idea if Peter and our group were heading back to the room, but that's where I was pointed.

I felt Jasper right behind me and I didn't slow my feet even when the Alligator men stepped in front of me. I growled at them and they quickly moved aside.

In the background I heard the ringmaster guy make the announcement that 'grievances would NOT be heard out in the ring this year and to meet Sovereignty at the Security building.' Team exhibitions would start soon after, as normal, followed by championships.

There was a collective sigh around the grandstands. There were still six more fights before they would pair the left over gifted individual fighters who didn't get to fight.

I entered the preternatural building, 'preternasties' more like, and headed straight back to our end of the hall.

Jasper was hot on my heels; following me straight back to the showers. He knew what I needed and he was more than willing. I grabbed one of our totes and a bag of blood.

I took the robe from him as quickly as I could and started my perusal.

I was sick of this place. I was agitated beyond what was good for me and all I wanted to do was rip into someone. I wished Vladimir would come in here right now. I could just fuckin' end him and be done with it. He'd be a good one to take this feeling of helplessness out on.

Jasper's skin was healing fast. I could see where the air and sand had actually penetrated his skin. Fuck. That was incredible. The way that woman had controlled her gift was amazing. After it had hit him, it had merely circled back and re-hit him. Over and over like a sand blaster. The strength of her gift to be able to do that was… I had no words.

I got naked with him and stripped the rest of his rags from his body. I didn't care who was out in the other room. They would stay away and out of sight.

I kissed down his body after I had turned on the shower, washing the sand from him. His body pushed out the invasive sand from the wounds on its own. I licked some of the deeper wounds, giving it the help that it needed. He'd lost a lot of venom in a short amount of time. I fed him the bag, replenishing what he'd lost.

We spent a short twenty minutes caressing and kissing and him letting me take care of him.

I wanted hours.

As the world returned, I could hear a commotion in the other room. I turned off the showers we were no longer under, and got re-dressed myself before dressing Jasper. He didn't fight me because he knew I needed all the contact I could get. We never spoke a word.

Jasper wrapped his arms around me when I was done, "Thank you, darlin," he breathed in my ear.

I kissed my scar on his neck and nodded, letting our bond tell him what I couldn't find the words for.

"We need to go out there," I sighed, pecking Jasper on the lips one more time.

When we entered we found most everyone around the front of the gurney thing except for Peter.

Peter paced in a blur around the room like he was consuming it, watching him made even me dizzy.

We joined the watchful eyes of our friends and family and when we couldn't take it anymore, Jasper gave him a huge measurement of lethargy.

Peter growled, but stopped in the corner he was in and stared back at us. Char was by his side in seconds holding his face between her hands. Holding him still and giving him comfort for something we couldn't see.

"What is it, sweetie?" Char cooed to him.

"We can't keep doing this," he shook his head, "We're defeating the purpose here. What happens when we win? Huh? What happens to our status if we win?"

"What do you mean, Pers?" Jasper asked, and tried to hold the snicker in when he gave Peter an abbreviation of the name he'd chosen.

Peter scoffed, "We have to win right? I mean we could lose, that's true, but we all know that it's not likely. Watching you guys go through this the last day and a half," Peter shook his head, "there's no way we can keep doing this to ourselves. Besides, look what we've already done? So what happens then? What does it look like that all our work we've done over the past years has led to us destroying it by being here? What happens to our status then?" It was hard to follow his line of thought. "We're making it obvious to everyone out there that our little group is closer than just casual comrades. Then…" He trailed off biting his tongue from repeating what he'd already said.

It dawned on me that Peter was just as sick as I was at what we were doing. I looked around the room and by the looks on everyone's faces; they were feeling the stress of it as well.

"What happens if at the end of the day, we win this thing, and we look like monsters to those we already saved? We win the battle but we'll lose the war." Peter continued, his voice more rushed this time.

"So what do you suggest?" Nevell asked, "Don't you think in the end, they'll understand? Even if they don't, what we're doing on short term will help us win the war. If other people don't understand, too feckin' bad."

"It's not 'too fuckin' bad' and you know it. We all care that the ones we've saved and protected can look at us for guidance and to do things right. We are on the verge of NOT 'doin' things right'."

"So spit it out, the way you're talkin' an' actin', you obviously have some kind of alternate plan," Jasper's voice was gentle as if he was talking Peter off a ledge.

"We aren't here to win" Peter seemed a tad calmer, "We made our point and it gave us a chance to figure out how this shit is done. We've established we can handle ourselves. I've been watching things: the security here, the other preternatural, all o' it. I think we're here to help them all get free from this fuckin' shit."

"Save the Giants?" Char snorted.

We were now talking at vampire speed. I didn't know how long we had to figure this out. An hour tops, if we're lucky? They were still fighting when we left and then they would have to pair up the ones who hadn't fought.

"Can you read them Edward?" Peter asked, ignoring her question. Peter motioned for us to take this conversation to the back. We stood in the far corner away from the showers, turning them on to drown out our voices.

"No." Edward uttered. We had already suspected that he couldn't.

"I didn't think so. I think they communicate telepathically with each other," Peter informed us.

"Really?" Jasper speculated.

"Yeah, I think that's why they don't have to talk, they don't actually have to. If they're breaking up a fight they move, look at each other, but never say a word. They move in the same direction or take action without communicating verbally. Hadn't you noticed?" Peter asked me.

"I've been a little busy," I said defensively.

Peter patted my shoulder and told me to turn on my COM. I huffed at him.

"Ok, say if they do, what does that mean to us?" Ivan asked.

"I'm not sure." Peter shrugged, "But I think if they know what each other are thinking, then maybe we can use that against them somehow."

"What are you thinking Peter?" Jasper eyed his friend, "You sound like you want to take them on."

"I know, and no… I've been watching these other creatures and us and… I think we could cause a riot."

"A riot, what would that prove?" Char sounded dumbfounded.

"And what do you want to do once the riot starts?" Ivan asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Well, I think if we started it, others would fall in and help. That is if they knew why we were doing it." Peter suggested, trying to clarify where he was going with this.

"We don't even know if any of them would go along with that. How do we organize a coup when the Giants are everywhere?" Ivan asked.

"I don't know, but I think that's the direction we need to go, and if some unfortunate bastards in the stands die in the process, it will not be a sad day." I knew Peter was talking about the owners and Sovereignty in particular. I couldn't agree more.

"What aren't you telling us Peter?" Jasper was still eyeing him suspiciously, being well-aware of Peter's gift and its certainty.

"Thinking about this Sovereignty meeting, why are they havin' it in secret?" Peter asked. "Callin' in people to interview them? I don't think so. I think they're doing it 'cause Vladimir is up to something. He wants to know how the hell ya'll are here, Zee. He's not going to let you walk away. Vampires tend to destroy what they're afraid of and he's shakin' in his whitey-tighties when he looks at you. Not only that, they're trying to figure out how much trouble they're in with Alice's recent demise an' Maria bein' MIA. "

I thought about what he said. I knew he was right, but what the fuck were we going to do about it? What could we do?

"What have you heard?" I asked Edward, quietly. "Are there enough around here that we could talk to and organize some kind of coup?"

"There's a lot who don't want to be here, that's for damn sure. Whether they'll help us or not is another story. And do we really have time?" Edward asked, but there was excitement welling up in his voice.

"We'll have the most time when the Sovereignty go to do their little group spank." Peter said. "Right now they should be settin' up the gifted ones who haven't fought yet like they did with Zee, making 'er fight once more. We don't have time to do anythin' right now."

"You think we can get enough people together to do something? Then what happens? Who do we take out first?" Char asked.

"The owners." Jasper said.

"Giants." Nevell said.

"Sovereignty." Ivan said.

"The Giants aren't going down without a fight. There's fucking hundreds of them here. We need a distraction." Peter went back to his original line of thinking.

"The Giants are hard to flippin' kill. I wonder if we talked to them and offered them freedom if that could be enough." Char suggested as an alternative.

"Maybe their motivation is money." Edward threw in. Typical.

"I think their motivation is eating ghouls," I snarked snidely.

"If we can get them corralled in one place, maybe one of those rocket launchers could take care of them." Jasper pondered.

"Does fire hurt them?" Ivan asked.

"Don't know if it would work like that, but those that we encountered down in South America burned up just fine. They don't seem to like fire. If you noticed, they make the fighters use the lighters." Char finally resigned that her mate was doing this and we were right behind him, with or without her support. I gave her a tiny smile and wink. She huffed at me and winked back grudgingly.

"I think that's a psychological thing for the competitors, not a fear of fire." Nevell observed.

"Maybe, but I still think gettin' 'em into a group somehow and then takin' 'em out is our best option." Peter reiterated.

"Then we need a diversion." Nevell said, hopping on board.

"Right. What do we know about them besides that they like ghouls? We could always get a bunch of ghouls together and spill blood. Do you think they'll go into a blood-lust frenzy?" Ivan supplied.

"_We watched them on those tapes and they really didn't seem frenzied when they were eating them. They stood over them until they were all dead, and then ate."_ Mac chimed in.

"Besides, we aren't going to be sacrificing anyone," I reminded.

"OK, we'll think about that. Keep an eye on them, try to find some kind of weakness, maybe we could test them on the fire concept. Moving on, how do we get other people around here to join us in a coup?" Nevell said, moving the conversation along.

"Ant." Peter said simply.

"Have you heard anything from anyone's mind that we could work with? Do you think any of them would listen without killing us?" Jasper asked Edward.

"Maybe," Edward pondered, "I haven't really been trying to listen to anyone other than the owners and Sovereignty."

"Ok. New objective, start seeing if you can find others who you think we could talk to about this." Jasper notified him.

"Getting anyone alone long enough to talk without drawing attention, is going to be hard." Ivan mused.

"If we could find a couple of groups it could go word of mouth," I said.

"This could end disastrously. They could go right back to their owners," Char scrutinized.

"No wait, I think that this might work actually," thinking aloud, Nevell contradicted Char, "Think about all the preternatural that were lost to other owners. How would we feel being traded off like a piece of meat? You can't tell me that mates haven't been separated. Or that friends or comrades were given away without a second glance. I bet there's something there we can work with."

"Ok, so when we go back out, look for signs of aggression and despondency. Look for ones who don't look like they can take it any more." Jasper said to all of us but looked at Edward when he spoke.

"Now that you mention it, I've heard many of them _think_ as if they've given up when we've been waiting to fight," Edward remarked.

"I think so, too," I agreed, remembering the vacant pained eyes of some of those that had stood in cue with us.

"Exactly," Jasper approved, "hone in on those. Point them out to Ant and see if we can't weasel our way somehow into these people's minds. Give them hope."

"We'll have to be careful, considering we'll be dead if someone goes tattlin' on us." Maybe Char wasn't as on board as I thought. Possibly her fear was getting to her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she talked. "They could reign down all hell on our heads and we wouldn't know what's goin' on til' it's too late."

"Ok. We need an escape plan. If shit hits the fan…" Peter realized his mate needed some reassurance.

"We have to get to the weapons on the roof." Nevell suggested.

"Consider it done." I said.

They were all quiet for a minute.

"OH shit. Oh hell yes!" Peter barked a laugh, "That'll work both ways. You can steal those things or disable them from here can't you? Oh, shit. How did I forget that?"

"You can't affect the Giants with your gift?" Ivan asked.

"I never tried, actually. I have tried to use my other senses on them but I have never tried to use the telekinesis. When we encountered them in South America, I didn't even think to try. One, I didn't have time to think and secondly, it doesn't seem to work on any of the rest, including us."

"Do you think our vamp-bindings would work on them?" Char asked.

"Maybe to slow them down, but they are extremely strong. I'm not sure. We don't have enough of them anyway." I told her.

"Ok, we'll keep that in mind, but maybe we should save them for tying up owners or some Sovereignty," Nevell said.

"Why don't we just kill them off? The Sovereignty, that is." Ivan asked.

"Well, we could and it's possible we might have to. But they're going to be guarded more than any of the others. If shit starts flying around, I'm sure the Giants are trained to guard them first and foremost." I said, thinking I would love to get my hands on them. "But killing the Powers? I'm not sure that's wise. Both Vlad and his brother are here. Caius and Heidi's deaths would bring down the Volturi on our heads. Then there's Christopher. We'd bite off more than we could chew. Figuring out what to do with them is something we need to think about, however."

"All of them are going to be in one place when they have these 'interviews'. We could just send some of those rocket launchers into the building." Ivan suggested.

"We don't have time to organize anything in time for the meeting. The fights are still going on now, then right after; they'll be in 'session.' Our best bet is to get a group together after Jasper is done fightin'." Peter suggested.

"He's done his three," I snarled, "And I think they're guarding the security building because they have ghouls in there. If we blow the building, we'll have to get the ghouls out first."

"I think," Peter said to me, "just like with you, they'll make J fight again. His fights were interesting. He showed potential and they'll want to put him out there again."

I knew he was right but I didn't have to fucking like it.

"So I have to fight and kill another one of them." Jasper grouched.

"Yes. But think of the ones we'll be able to save in the long run." Peter tried to console him.

"What are we going to do with all these people if we do get the chance to free them? They have no idea of the real world. All they have ever known is this." Char swept her arm, alluding to the Games.

"Set them free," Ivan said derisively.

"Yes, and in no time they'll be knocking out human civilization." Edward mocked back.

"_I have a confession to make,"_ Mac jumped in before we lost train of thought.

"This isn't confessional. I ain't the Pope." Peter joked.

"What would that be?" Nevell asked Mac while purposely ignoring Peter.

"_What would you say if you knew that Benjamin is there_?" Mac asked tentatively.

"Here? He's at the Games? NO. How the fu-" Peter sputtered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nevell demanded.

_"No, not at the Games themselves, but_ _they aren't that far away. When you guys left Ireland, Ben left home base in Mongolia. We tracked you and he fell into position. He's a hundred twenty-five miles south of you, just out of range of the perimeter the Giants have set. You really didn't think I was going to leave you guys in there to die vainly__,__ did you? We don't want you to die at all, but your deaths will set off a massive 'PW'. You should know me, if not all of us, better than that by now_." Mac scolded.

We were a little stunned.

"What's a PW?" Peter asked, because that was obviously the most important thing Mac had said, right?

"_Preternatural War."_ Cheese's voice came in over Mac's, sounding all too pleased with himself.

"You guys can't come in here to try to rescue us! We discussed this!" Nevell halfheartedly reprimanded.

Looking around, I could see the conflict that we all felt. We had back up that would put more lives at risk. But we could possibly put a huge dent in the Games. Not just a dent.

"_Wasn't going to, but if something happened to you, they're prepared to light that place ablaze from the air_. _You know how Ben is; he's not going to let you have all the glory. Besides, he's invested in this, too. They make ghouls to _feed_ to the Giants. He wants a piece of the action. He knows you guys too well. Benjamin knew, as we all did, __that__ you all would come up with a way to either save or defeat these fuckers. We decided to be in position to assist when you guys figured it out."_

Wow. Now those are friends.

"Ok. How many are there ready to go? What kind of air support are we talking about here? Are there more coming?" Nevell and Jasper both asked on top of each other, they were on it.

"_Benjamin pulled in four sanctions, each have around twenty five on the ground. He's got four choppers armed to the hilt with ten on each. More ground troops are on the way. They should be a couple hours out from Benjamin's position now."_

"How many of those are ghouls?" I asked, suspiciously.

"_Most of them, but_ _they're manning the choppers. Ground troops are mainly vampires and shifters_." Mac said confidently. It seems he'd thought of everything. No doubt he had and then more on top of that.

"Have you been able to find any radio communications other than ours?" Jasper asked him.

"_None, other than the air traffic from their air support or the occasional cell phone call, nothing of significance to us. They have helicopters every hundred miles around that place at different intervals ready to go at any given time. A distraction is what you need._"

"I could set the rocket launchers off if I could get a hold of one to see how the fucker works. I'll need to know how to set it off." I was excited now.

"You really think you can do that?" Jasper asked.

"Absolutely." I grinned.

"We can get the schematics and read them off to you." Mac said.

"That might work, but I think seeing one personally would work better, if not I can wing it." I said positively. I might shoot myself instead, but I didn't let anyone know that.

"Maybe you could just blow up the meeting. That would be a big enough distraction." Nevell suggested.

"Now there's a thought." Peter nodded.

"How long will it take for Benjamin's crew to get here once shit hits the fan," Jasper asked Mac.

"_That d__epends on outside influences. If shit goes down there__,__ then the outside security is just going to be on that much higher alert, and it depends on what they do. If they run straight to you with no problems, given the terrain… thirty minutes give or take."_ Mac confirmed.

"Can Ben's team occupy the outside Giant's choppers at the same time we do whatever we do in here? We don't need the Giants coming in giving us air strikes at the same time that we try to corral this place. If Izzy can get a grip on these rocket launchers and if we can get enough people around here to fight for themselves…then we may have a chance." Jasper's eyes twinkled.

"_Hold on_." I assumed he was going to go talk to Ben.

"Wow. This isn't what I expected coming into this." Ivan smirked, "But I gotta admit I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"No shit. But killin' those that need a good killin' is a hell o' lot better than killin' these people in the ring." Jasper said.

Guilt swept me but I pushed it away by concentrating on the Greater Good.

A rap sounded on the door before Mac got back to us. Liam entered when Ivan unlocked the door. We came back out of the showers a little damper than when we went in because of the steam.

Liam gave us an odd look, but didn't comment. That was wise of him. "Jasper must fight again." He stated simply.

"Who is he fighting?" I demanded.

"Zorg." Liam said.

"A what?" Ivan asked.

"His name is Zorg. He is Christopher's Champion. He is wolf-beast." Liam looked worried.

"What does that mean?" Char growled.

"It means… he is neither beast nor wolf. He takes a shape that is somewhere in-between. He stands eight feet tall, half… changed. He has claws for hands and feet, jowls of a wolf with razor sharp poisonous teeth, and his body is huge. He's enormous really." Liam's worried demeanor turned thoughtful, envious even.

"If he's a Champion, why is he fighting in the elimination rounds?" Nevell all but growled.

"He has never lost. He has won the last seven championships. Christopher likes to take out potential contenders with him before the non-elimination rounds. He has set his sights on your team. He sees ye as a threat." Liam was now worried. His moods were getting on my nerves.

I just stared at him as fear crept slowly up my spine.

"Yes," Edward said looking at Jasper, answering an unspoken question.

"What?" I asked looking quickly back and forth between the two of them.

Liam went on, "It is why it has taken so long for me to come to ye. I tried to argue with Christopher. He can choose who Zorg fights and when he fights. We all can. He would not listen to me. I was out voted." Liam added.

JPOV~

I can't say I wasn't worried. Looking at Izzy, I could see her anxiety without even checking the mating bond or her emotions. This didn't sound like someone to tangle with. The way the emotions bounced around Liam, I knew he was more afraid than ever before and I had to wonder exactly where it was coming from. Was this Zorg that much of a threat?

Why was Christopher doing this now? Did he know something? Did he suspect Izzy was my mate?

"Yes," Edward hissed at me. My head whipped to him as my mate, in question, asked us what she'd missed.

Edward was answering the question I hadn't asked aloud. He suspected Izzy was my mate.

Liam interrupted me, answering Isabella, "It is why it has taken so long for me to come to ye. I tried to argue with Christopher. He can choose who Zorg fights and when he fights. We all can. He would not listen to me. I was out voted."

Looking at Edward, I asked him silently if Liam had told them. He stared back a second with his head slightly cocked toward Liam. Then he slowly nodded.

I swore.

No matter how careful we had been, it was all for naught. No matter if she walked with someone else or with me. No matter how we made sure even if we talked to each other out loud - we were looking at someone else when we did. No matter if we tried with every fiber not to react to each other's fights, it had been for nothing in the end. I had held her face before the first battle and it took everything in me not to kiss her. But I had refrained and no one had been suspicious. Edward told me the ones around us just thought I'd been giving her a pep talk because she was scared.

The last one with Isabella putting a robe on me… I couldn't blame her for that. I wouldn't have been able to control Major if it had been her naked in the ring.

But I had a feeling they figured it out long before that.

If Liam was going to tell anyway, it didn't matter what we had done, did it?

I couldn't control my anger. I had Liam against the wall before I'd finished the thought.

I snarled, spitting venom on Liam's face.

"This may be your domain, but I will bring you down piece by piece. You have betrayed us. I do not take that lightly. If it is the last thing I will do, I will be helpin' ya find your spine by the end of this. Mark my words!" My words sent fear rippling through Liam and Major flared his nostrils, letting it feed us.

"What. Did. He. DO?" Isabella asked.

"Tell her," I pulled him off the wall and slammed him again.

"I doona-"

"Tell. Her."

Liam swallowed, wide eyed, "I… I… they asked if you were mates. They already knew!" He didn't answer the question for Isabella to know what he'd confirmed for them.

Isabella is a conundrum to me. She has been since the day she walked into my life and she continues to be.

Her voice was steel when she asked, "When are the new rounds of fights?"

"Half… half an hour," Liam sputtered, "They have to prepare the others. I came as soon as I found out."

"Well you have so you are dismissed," Isabella's voice cold as ice dismissed the fucker as she tugged on my arm, making me let go of him. Major and I weren't happy about that.

Shock was all over Liam's face as his fear ramped to heart attack status. She had dismissed him. He was scared shitless, he knew he'd just bent over and fucked himself.

The door shut and Isabella didn't even bother keeping her voice down, "He dies."

We all nodded in agreement.

Mac's voice was suddenly there before I could say anything.

_"I didn't want to interrupt_ _that little chat," _Mac snickered_, "Ben is separating his team as we speak. They'll be ready to ambush the pilots of the helicopters in an hour, hour __an__ a half at most._

"You'll have to fight," Izzy snarled, ignoring Mac.

"I'll be fine." I told her with all the confidence I wasn't sure I was feeling.

"What the fuck did he do?" Isabella switched gears, looking at Edward.

Edward answered her, "He finally broke under pressure. He was trying to hide it from me, but I caught the line of thought and followed it. Christopher became interested in us because Vlad was relentless about you." He inclined his head to Isabella, "So Christopher watched you fighting, closely, then your reaction to Jasper fighting. He suspected the relationship and asked Liam flat out. Liam told him that yes indeed you were."

"So they all know that Jasper is my mate." Guilt wracked her body and I grabbed her, holding her to me.

"No. They could have figured it out the other way around, too. It was only a matter of time." I told her. This was not her fault. She wasn't prone to guilt and she wasn't going to start now.

Her emotions didn't calm. "Now you have to fight that thing, by yourself." She gritted.

"No problem baby. While I'm fight-" My sentence was cut off.

A knock at the door stopped me mid-sentence. Letting my senses out, I could feel five different signatures behind the door.

"Company." I whispered.

Walking to the door, I made motions for the rest of them to spread out.

"It's the alligators." Edward said, "They want to talk."

I opened the door, stepping aside immediately, inviting them in.

They cautiously slid into the room, apprehension and maybe second thoughts as they saw us and our positions in the room.

"We just came to talk." One of them gestured to the rest of his group: "This is Sherman." It was hard to tell one from the other with the scales on their faces. "Savoi, Rivet, Vincent. I'm Bergeon, or people call me Berg."

"What do you want to talk about?" Peter snipped, not giving the same courtesy of introducing any of us.

"We heard you're fighting with Wolf-Beast." Bergeon said.

When we didn't move to make comment, Sherman jumped in, "Uh, I guess we didn't think this through. Not that you want our help, but you guys… don't seem to belong here. No offense."

"What do you know about it?" Char barked.

They gave each other side-glances before Bergeon answered, "We've been around a couple years. We've seen a lot of people come and… go. But you guys…" he trailed off.

"We don't fit, yeah you said that," Nevell reminded them.

Savoi cleared his throat, "We're just curious that's all. Usually the Australian picks someone who fights in shifter shape to fight his wolf-beast. You're not shifter." He said facing me.

"You noticed, huh?" I stated, giving him a lazy grin.

"Get to the point." Isabella sighed.

"Rumor has it -" Bergeon started and Vincent interrupted.

"We want in on it." He said so fast and in that Cajun accent, I almost missed it.

"Shut up!" The rest of them said.

"What? It's obvious you can't handle the fuckin' conversation. Ya' look like a duck waddlin' around a hen, I was just helpin'," Vincent defended.

"Hey! Get on with it." Char told them.

"We want to know what you're really doin' here." Sherman relented with a huge sigh and a scoff at Vincent.

"We're fightin'. All you've done is insult the women in our group. I'm losing patience, just spit it out already!" Peter snapped.

"Hey, they're nice women. You can't help a bunch a guys for tryin'." Rivet wiggled his eyebrows.

"We've been watchin' ya'll," Sherman said, trying to ignore the sudden tension, "We think there might be somethin' goin' on we should know about. Maybe even want to help with."

"Do you guys like fighting here?" I asked.

They didn't say anything. Their caution and anticipation tellin' me they were going to be game.

"Tell me this. What would you do if you were free?" I asked them, monitoring their emotions closely.

"Free? There's no such thing for us, mate." Sherman told me.

"Why is that? Who are you guys anyway? Where are you from?" Isabella drilled them.

"Louisiana, originally. All of us." Sherman motioned to his comrades.

"You're from the US?" She was hopeful.

"Yes, but we've been aroun' the block more than once. We've been passed from one owner to another. We're with the Italians right now." Berg said.

"Do you know a man by the name of Eleazar?" Isabella asked carefully.

"No, who's that?" Rivet asked. None of them showed any signs of recognition.

"To make a long story short, these Games are illegal. The Sovereignty might rule these events but they don't rule the Vampire world, or the preternatural world." Isabella told them slowly.

That confused them, "Who does." They all asked at once.

"Well, that's a tricky question at the moment. We don't have time to tell you. We need to get our asses out there. Will you guys come back after the fight? We can discuss all this shit then."

"Yeah, ok." Berg said. There was excitement in all of them. What that excitement entailed remained to be seen.

"Why don't you guys sit with us?" Peter said.

"You want to make sure we don't say anythin'? You can trust us." Berg growled.

"We trust no one at the moment," Nevell told them honestly.

"Understood," Berg nodded, even though he wasn't happy with the answer. "Sure, don't sit too close because they'll think we're up to somethin'." He warned us.

"Al'right let's get the fuck outta' here. You guys go out first." Peter ordered.

Isabella, Ivan and Nevell came with me to the queue this time. That left Peter, Char and Edward to go with the Alligators. Fuckin' Alligators. Jesus.

And here we'd thought we'd been blending so well. The last two hours had been eye opening and intense.

Wolf-Beast.

I reached over, squeezed Isabella's arm, and sent her all the love I could. I felt her return it. Her confidence feeding mine as mine had fed her.

I had been put in queue last. That was good because the fighting had already begun. I was going to be in the last Individual Gifted fights.

I wondered what the fuck Christopher would do when I took down his Beast. We had to figure out some major shit in the next few hours.

Plotting death, that's what we'd be figuring out.

Nervous energy seeped into my bones, turning into anticipation. Major crept into my skull and bones. My nostrils flared when we heard the next to last battle start. Blood. The air filled with it. Some kind of shapeshifter blood.

Fighters came and left. Incense filled the air over and over.

Major and I waited.

Then all too soon, a Giant stepped in front of me, motioning for me to go into the arena. He opened the door, and I stepped out onto the sand.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**HMMMM, I know ya'll are going to hate me for that. **

**For the next chapter however… It had to be done to maintain the flow.**

**Don't say 'fuck the flow'… lol. **

**I know some of you did 'cause that's what I'd say.**

**You'll thank me Thursday (_maybe_ Wednesday) when you open the next chapter for your greedy eyes to read. Trust me it was this, or in a much less desirable place.**

**Anyway…**

**As always leave me your precious words… I love hearing what ya'll think!**

**;)**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N**

**My Betas keep me in line~ Thank you Bripearl and Letsjustdance. Without you both, my writing would hold such horrible blunders.**

**I love ya'lls reviews. You're what keep me in line and my fingers on the keys. So thank you.**

**I hope these next two chapters don't disappoint. My Beta's have assured me I did well… but … well… I'll let you read and tell me yourselves. I'll try not to bite off my nails while I wait for your words.**

**(+=)**

**~Remainder of 2****nd**** Day~ Jasper fights to the death with Wolf-Beast ~ Zorg. / Sovereignty meets for private 'interviews' for Alice's replacement after the fight. (Anyone else suspicious of this?) **

**(=+)**

**This is written in back and forth between Izzy and Jasper's POV's**

_**Previously;**_

_I had been put in queue last. That was good because the fighting had already begun. I was going to be in the last Individual Gifted fights. _

_I wondered what the fuck Christopher would do when I took down his Beast. We had to figure out some major shit in the next few hours. _

_Plotting death, that's what we'd be figuring out._

_Nervous energy seeped into my bones__,__ turning into anticipation. Major crept into my skull and bones. My nostrils flared when we heard the next to last battle start. Blood. The air filled with it. Some kind of shapeshifter blood._

_Fighters came and left. Incense filled the air over and over. _

_Major and I waited._

_Then all too soon, there was a Giant in front of me, motioning for me to go into the arena. He opened the door, and I entered the arena._

**~FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE~**

**~Izzy POV~**

Days would pass before the events of this day were assembled and we made any sense of it. If we'd known how the next few hours would play out for us in the end, I knew each of us wondered if we would have done anything differently.

The answer was always emphatically no.

I knew from the bottom of my soul to the tips of those god-awful snake braids on my head that afternoon, that I wouldn't change any part of that day.

In a whir of turmoil and madness, chaos and misfortune we fought our best. And in the end that was all we could have done.

We mourn those we lost and hold a little more respect for those we see in passing who fought with us in those few dark short hours. We hold our loved ones closer and we tell them we love them just a little more than the day before.

And many years later, even in the darkness, we would see more vividly how the world is a much better place than it was before _this_ day.

**~Jasper POV~**

AsI entered the ring I was startled to find the Wolf-Beast, Zorg, already moving like lightening across the sand, gunning right for me. I was so taken off guard, I fucking ran. I heard the announcer say something but I was already moving to get away from the creature hell bent on having my venom for breakfast.

He was fast.

He was enormous.

I could smell and feel the hunt within him. The fight before ours was bloody as fuck, and he was feeling the frenzy of it.

Not only that but the fuckers did not bother to light the last losing fighter on fire, sending the shifter to true death.

The previous shifter lay in the middle of the ring, scattered in pieces, adding fuel to the bloodlust of the abomination set on killing the fuck out of me.

Liam hadn't done the Beast justice. He was mammoth huge. Eight and a half feet tall, half man, or something, half Wolf all kinds of wild. The pads of his feet were larger than my damn head. The claws on him were the length of my fingers or maybe even longer.

The devil fucked a dinosaur to get this atrocity.

I skirted around the arena trying to get my bearings as the Zorg chased me. I knew running from him was a bad idea, it just fueled his fervor, but I needed to see what he could do.

It appeared like anything he fucking wanted.

I gathered all the energy I could get and sent him a mixture of fear and lethargy.

It slowed me down a tad to do so, pushing everything I had into the emotions I sent him.

I should've saved myself the effort; it didn't slow him down one iota.

It did make him roar a thunderclap so loud I had to cover my ears.

All I'd accomplished was to piss him off.

As Isabella liked to often say; Oi vey.

**~Izzy POV~**

Jasper entered the ring sending me adrift of our bond.

Ivan, Nevell and I scrambled to the tower overlooking the arena in time to see the Beast named Zorg charging across the sand straight for Jasper.

The announcer screamed, "Zorg!" with an exuberance of enthusiasm that sent the crowd cheering as Jasper headed across the arena with Zorg right on his ass.

My heart was in my throat as I watched Jasper dodge and hedge the Beast trying to find a way to fight the fucker.

I noticed the bits and pieces of the last shapeshifter to lose his life, scattered around the arena. Unchecked blood splattered the sand around the chunks of meat and I couldn't imagine that being a good thing when it came to slowing down that creature in there with my mate.

I wanted slap Liam for such a vague description of Zorg.

Zorg stood like a wall of destruction. Tufts of hair covered his half-wolf form in odd places making it hard to make out true body parts. He resembled a beast from those old films of the Werewolf in London movies depicted. That film only got it half right, however. He was scary as fuck and twice the size of Jasper.

They circled around the arena over the broken bloody body parts and by the howling snarls from the Wolf-Beast I knew it wasn't doing his senses a bit a' good. Maybe that was what Jasper was trying to do, distract him with quicker and more obtainable food.

It didn't work.

All it did was fuel the Wolf-Beast. Why hadn't they burned the last fighter? Did they do that shit on purpose?

Jasper dodged a couple of blows looking behind him trying to assess his pursuer.

When he slowed, I knew he was using his gift. Whatever mixture of emotions Jasper sent to Zorg just engaged the beast further. I covered my ears, as everyone did, when the Wolf-Beast roared.

I actually felt the ground shake.

Oh fuck me.

Jasper covered his ears as well and the moment of hesitancy, cost Jasper ground the Beast quickly made up. Zorg charged arms outstretched.

I couldn't stand it. My eyes stayed on Jasper as I let my gift flow out, searching.

**~Jasper POV~**

Wolf-Beasts' roar had thrown me off and I nearly stopped as I covered my ears. It was enough to give Zorg the advantage and he lunged at me, arms extended.

I dodged and feigned enough he only ended up with my shirt, ripping it off.

His claws only grazing my shoulder blades, I felt the slashes heal as fast as they had been made.

My sleeves stayed on and it reminded me I had weapons. The sheath of the Katana slapped against my back in the open air. The blades blazed on my forearms making their presence known. It was like they had a will of their own and wanted to fight. I could almost feel their anticipation. That couldn't be right, but I swear…

I drew the Katana, the blade singing as it left the scabbard on my back, as I jumped back out of reach of Zorg's swiping arm.

He followed up quickly with another swing, claws extended. This time he caught my arm knocking me back a couple a couple of feet, making me lose footing. I smelled my venom before I felt the searing pain where he slashed my shoulder open.

He took advantage of my stumble and continued coming. Instead of retreating I moved forward into his arms, the katana finding purchase in his thigh. It wasn't enough to take him down but it distracted him long enough I was able to jump backward and steady myself. I wished had more practice with this damn thing.

Zorg let out another deafening roar and charged.

Jumping up I swiped the katana toward his neck. He countered the incoming blow with his arm and the katana vibrated with the blow. The sword took a chunk out of his forearm before I lost my grip. Blood sprayed out from the gash, covering the sand and the side of my body.

His other arm was already coming for me and my dodge to get away from the blow was fruitless. His paw landed its blow on my wounded shoulder sending shockwaves of pain through the rest of my body. I went down on one knee.

Pain ricocheted up my arm into my head and I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out. More of my venom sprayed from the now fully open wound. He'd managed to nearly tear my arm clean off.

I spun away from a blow he was aiming to rein on my head and blurred across the arena, turning to face Zorg as he pursued me. I'd gotten far enough away my feet were set for his attack. My sleeves had fallen to my wrists, quickly discarding them and I drew both knives. The hilts slid and settled in my palms, as if they belonged there.

I was all too happy to see him limp slightly from my futile efforts with the sword. As I watched for weaknesses it dawned on me there were none. His bloodlust was out of control and when that occurs there's no predicting the frenzy in his mind.

Zorg had no finesse. He charged recklessly across the distance between us, sand flying up and away as his feet dug for speed.

His forearm was bleeding, spraying as his heart pumped. His thigh wasn't in much better shape. The huge gash in his left his leg covered in blood.

I watched his muscles tense and his shoulders shift and tighten telling me he was going to strike with his unharmed right arm.

As he made his final move to attack I feigned to my right, making him change course, putting weight on his injured leg. It had the affect I had hoped and he stumbled. Changing directions swiftly, I went for his good right arm. The knife blade sunk into his flesh, hitting bone before coming out the other side. I darted away.

Maybe I could make him bleed to death.

Zorg roared turning to follow me. His eyes, a wolfish brilliant yellow tracked me across the sand until I came to rest waiting yet again for his next assault.

We fought. He chased, I ran.

I had never fought anyone or anything like him. I wondered how he would do against those fucking Giants.

At some point he got another hit in and I went down.

My body was healing, but I had lost a lot of venom already. The gashes in my shoulder were healing more slowly than usual. Though I tried to hold them off as best I could, the spectators' emotions seeped in like a bad virus.

Zorg's fisted paw came at my head, and I couldn't move fast enough. I heard the explosion I could only imagine was the impact of his fist against the side of my head. I must be really out of it to envision an explosion of my head to sound like that.

**~Izzy POV~**

My gift flooded out from me like a spider web, covering the stadium and encompassing everything in it. I concentrated on what I felt within in my web as I watched my mate try to get an advantage on the Beast set on killing him. A low keening noise came from Monstress as we saw him take hits.

Concentrate damn it.

Feeling my way around the place my eyes landed on the top of the stadium and the catwalk.

I should just take the stadium apart.

The idea was a brief thought, but what would we do then? We'll leave it for the last resort.

"_Guuunnnsss_," Monstress hissed, "_Exxxplossssion." _pushing on me from within to take action_._

Rocket launchers.

Oh, fuck yes.

Monstress's claws dug into my brain with sharp spikes and I focused on them. Keeping track of the fight below, I honed in on the mounted contraption near the ringmaster. Jasper took a hit and I tried harder. Panic settling in my veins.

Maybe if Peter had been there on that platform with me, he would have realized what I was doing, but Nevell and Ivan were paying attention to the fight, yelling encouragement and giving directions to Jasper. Not that Jasper could hear them over the yelling of others in the whole stadium.

I moved pieces on the metal with my mind not knowing what the fuck I was doing.

Until, finally, the fucker gave.

I felt the click.

I felt it release in my head, the mechanism flipped and white hot fire shot through my brain as the contraption ignited into activity. It flamed with a hiss and the sound of rushing, whooshing wind filled me.

I saw the rocket finally go in a fiery smoky take off, half a second later the white tents, behind the stadium, were on fire and exploding.

Screams could be heard and the stadium erupted in panic. I focused completely back on Jasper with Beast holding him down. I wasn't sure of the exact details on how he got there; the flash in my head from the launcher temporarily blinded me before I released it from my mental hold.

I let out a shriek of despair as the Beast, his arm drawn back ready to take off Jasper's head, began its descent. The Wolf-Beast shook, his arm faltering, and he began to tremble as the explosions continued to reverberate around us.

**~Jasper POV~**

I heard screaming and the beast on top of me roared, quickly glancing up at him he was still over me. He hadn't exploded my head like I thought was going to happen. Was my head still on? What was that screaming? Was it me?

Zorg was staring at me, his face contorted and mangled. He must have hit me hard enough that I was seeing things. As I watched, transfixed, he morphed and wavered, the patches of scruffy hair disappearing into skin, morphing into a recognizable human shape. Trying to focus on the creature I watched his elongated jowl was now retracting into human shape.

That had to be one of the strangest things I'd ever seen. I must be dead.

"What the fuck?" I muttered.

The beast, or what was left of the beast, warped and he made a strangled noise until there was no longer a beast, but a man over top of me.

He looked down at me and then up around him. I tried to look but couldn't see anything, the beast might be in human form now, but he was still blocking my view.

He looked back down at me and uttered words, and I thought, surely I must be dead.

"Sorry," he looked quickly back up to the crowded stands and back to me, "Gotta get you out here."

What? Alarm shot though me. He wasn't speaking in complete sentences or very coherently, but I wasn't sure I wanted any part of going with him anywhere.

He stood up in a flourish, grabbed my leg and proceeded to drag me across the sand. My body was drained, and the guy was lightening fast. As he dragged me, I saw all the damage I had done to him was not causing him to bleed out. They had healed when during his transformation. All the knife wounds I had given him, his change had healed them.

Fuck, ain't that brilliant?

I struggled and tried to get out of his grip but even in human form he was strong. We sailed across the arena his grip on my leg firm, as my body bounced along behind him.

I resisted, trying to get my leg wrenched away, so I could stand. I took the momentum of one of the bounces and tried to propel myself upright. If I could get a hold of his back or arm or anything really I might possibly be able to end this. But all too soon we were in the air.

I let out an unmanly shocked shriek as I realized he was taking me over the wall. My head hit the wall on the way over choking off my protests. It didn't hurt. I did more damage to the wall.

We landed with a thump, or at least I did, on the ground on the other side. He didn't even pause as people scattered at our sudden appearance in an already chaotic environment. We were flying over the worn dirty surface of the earth. We were outside of the ring. Fuck. Was he taking me to his layer somewhere to eat me? No fucking way!

Rage boiled in me and tried to use it to break free.

I struggled harder to get out of his grip. From the time he'd started to change to now I'd say little more than a two minutes had passed.

I couldn't get a grip on reality or hold my anger long enough to do anything. I was too weak from the loss of venom.

**~Izzy POV~**

"What the feck did you do?" Nevell hissed at me.

I ignored Nevell as I lurched forward, but Ivan was there, catching my arm before I could get into the ring.

In seconds, right before everyone's eyes, the Beast shifted into a virtually unassuming human form. Startled, I stopped struggling, and watched in horror as he took a stunned Jasper by the leg and blurred across the ring dragging him like a rag doll. I could only imagine the sudden influx in emotions throughout the stadium overwhelming Jasper. He'd lost so much venom from his shoulder that it had left him weakened. But he was the Major and he was fine our bond reminded Monstress and me.

Zorg leapt the far wall with Jasper bouncing behind him and disappeared beyond my sight.

I think fucking not!

Seconds felt like minutes in my mind. Time seemed to slow down and speed back up all in one breath. The occupants of the stadium were running in chaos or watching in horror at the sudden disruption of events.

My gift flowed out once again and I was off the platform and running as fast as my legs would take me to Jasper, letting the bond guide me through the crowd.

Giants were everywhere policing the masses of creatures back into the building. I dodged and weaved around them, the Giants registering far too late that I was on the move and I wasn't adhering to their demands.

Arms grabbed for me but I paid no attention. My adrenaline so high I thought I could just leap over all of them.

What a good idea.

Gathering my legs under me as I ran, making more precise and shorter steps, I found stable purchase and hurdled over the Giant who stepped in front of me. I knew Ivan and Nevell were behind me somewhere and prayed they would make it around the huge obstructions the Giants posed.

Landing on my feet, thirty yards from where I started, my legs were already pumping carrying me away from the mass of bodies.

I was halfway around the stadium now when I felt the pull to the right toward the preternatural building. The exit door, next to our door, was right around the corner from me. I rounded the corner and came face to face with the now human face of the Wolf-Beast standing in front of an upright Jasper.

I attacked.

**Jasper POV~**

Zorg wouldn't let go, and at his speed I could do nothing but bounce behind him. A human memory flashed before me and I remembered being thrown from my horse and being dragged across desert sand. It was a brief flash and amongst it all I snickered, because that's exactly what this felt like.

My alarm at my situation wasn't as intense as it should have been. Emotions swirled around me coming from every direction but the ones coming from the Wolf-Beast weren't ones of malice, but of protection. Was he feeling protective of me? I couldn't trust that, but all indicators pointed me in that direction.

I was shocked at his strength to be able to drag me at such speed behind him. I couldn't do anything but go along with the ride.

When he suddenly stopped, he dropped my leg with one last thud. I was up and crouched in front of him snarling.

He was so young, early to late twenties. His face was almost boyish appearing, but his eyes were so old and held so much pain they made me pause. He held his hands up and leaned against the building near the exit of the preternatural building like he needed something to prop himself up or he'd fall over. That's when I realized we were standing outside by the exit leading to our room.

"Please," his voice young and scared, shook and I noticed then his entire body was shaking, "I don't want to fight."

"Little fuckin' late for that," my voice didn't hold the venom behind it that the words required. Something about his behavior set warning bells off in my head. Major was demanding caution like he knew something I hadn't caught up to yet. The situation wasn't as it appeared.

I could hear noise in the background and amazingly no one was on this side of the building. We were alone. I could feel my mate's panic and determination and knew she would be here shortly. I either needed to kill this guy or prepare for something else entirely.

"Why shouldn't I kill you?" I asked him.

"That wasn't me in that ring," He said defeated, his head rose and his eyes silently plead with me.

"I beg to differ," I remember precisely who was there in that ring with me. My body remembered.

"Christopher drugs me before I go into the ring. The drug provokes the beast to come forward and I can't stop it," he was talking so fast, maybe realizing we could be caught back here at any second. I was sure Izzy wasn't the only one on the way here. Christopher was surely looking for his killer.

"How did you come out of it?" I registered finally what Major was already aware of, I could smell the wrongness of his blood.. Not just shifter, but also something man made, something synthetic. His emotions and my nose told me he was telling the truth. He had been drugged.

"Truthfully? I'm not really sure. Usually my fights don't last that long. Then there was that explosion and it… brought me back to reality I guess. I'm not really sure," He took a breath. "I don't want to fight out there. That's why Christopher has to give me the drugs."

Pain ebbed and flowed as I felt my shoulder trying to mend itself. I tried to ignore it. The cuts were deep, but they were healing none-the-less. I made quick inventory of my body. No broken bones. No protruding or misshapen body parts. Thank God.

We heard footsteps coming around the corner and he moved before I could warn him. He stood in front of me before I could even turn to see Izzy flying around the corner. She stopped only for a fraction of a second taking in the scene, before launching herself at Zorg.

I hated doing it, but I pushed as much lethargy at her as I could while I skirted around Zorg to grab her. Zorg had dropped to his knees, not from my gift but in supplication of whatever punishment Isabella wanted to bestow him.

"No," I told her wrapping my arms around her, bringing her into my chest. I let my love replace the lethargy quickly and held onto her as she struggled. "He doesn't want to kill. Christopher drugs him."

She froze then her head whipped around to see Zorg standing up turning to us. I watched as her eyes narrowed at him.

"Is that true?" She hissed.

Zorg simply nodded.

"Christopher will be looking for me, I should go. If he finds me here…" He trailed off letting out a huge sigh obviously not wanting to finish that statement.

"Come with us," I quickly told him. I wasn't sure what provoked me to say it, but it was out of my mouth before I could second-guess it. "Our room is just inside this door. Come with us."

"I can't. I will be punished." He looked so broken.

"You need to come with us. I'm not asking. We can tell Christopher we killed you." Isabella jumped on the wagon to save him. Maybe she could feel his hopelessness as I could. Either that or she trusted me enough to know what I was doing…maybe both. The latter I wasn't sure she should do at the moment. But something was compelling me to help this man.

He eyed us warily looking to the end of the building and back to us. Before he could say anything Ivan, Edward, and the rest came flying around the corner.

"In the room NOW!" Peter hissed.

None of us questioned him. Ivan tore open the door and we filed into our room. Zorg was starting to panic and Edward of all people, tried to put his fears to rest. Zorg was so startled at whatever Edward was saying he didn't struggle to obey our demands.

**~Izzy POV~**

"Vlad's coming." I said before I even thought of the words. My body was telling me he was getting closer.

"Put him in the showers," Peter ordered Jasper, "Act like you're eating him."

"What?" Jasper asked but he was already pulling Zorg back to the back room as he kept his eyes on Peter for clarification.

"Cut him, make his blood scent fill the air," Peter blurred to the bag containing the blood grabbing it and tossing it in Jasper's direction, "Cover him in blood and pretend to protect your prey. Drink as much as you can to heal. Izzy protect them."

I caught on as I followed Jasper around the corner to the far side of the showers, away from direct sight of the outside door to our room.

Zorg looked panicked as he watched us blur around him.

"We're going to pretend you're hurt and Jasper is feeding from you. Lay down," He didn't move, "Lay. Down," I hissed and ripped the bag of blood open and sprayed Jasper and Zorg with the blood.

Jasper grabbed Zorg's arm, pulling him to the wall, "We'll have to cut your somewhere so they smell your blood. The extra will just look like more blood I spilled from you."

I could hear Peter telling the others what was going to happen and that he, Char and Edward were going out of the room before the cavalry descended on us. I wasn't sure why the hell he was leaving, but I didn't have time to ask.

I heard shuffling and our door being left propped open then the Exit door click shut.

The entire place was in chaos. I could hear yelling and screaming coming from down the corridor and I hoped that Peter, Char and Edward had slipped out to do whatever Peter was up to before anyone important saw them.

Just as I thought that I heard the search party coming down the hallway, "Why do you have to have these bloody Giants around us? They are slowing us down!" I heard Christopher's Aussie accent echo down the hall to us, and more than one set of footsteps approaching fast.

"Do you want to walk amongst the blood-frenzy that your abomination has stirred up? They are here protecting us," Vlad's voice shot back hatefully.

I saw the moment it registered in Zorg's eyes what the fuck was going on. Realization dawned in his eyes and without further hesitation he reached down digging his fingers into this thigh. I gagged for some reason and turned around. Jasper was already on his second bag of blood.

I smelled Zorg's' self-inflicted wound as his blood hit the air. The warm scent of Zorg's blood overpowered the cold human blood scent covering the floor and their bodies in a macabre of gore.

I stood in front of my mate and Zorg and growled a warning. The warning was for the shapeshifter and my mate, letting them know they had seconds to get into place. The people now coming into the main room would hopefully think my growl was for them.

"Where is he?" Christopher's voice thundered off the walls.

"Who?" Nevell asked.

"DON'T play games with me! Where is Zorg!" Christopher demanded.

"UH, well, I think he's occupied." Ivan told them. "HEY! You don't want to go in there!"

"I smell his blood. Get the fuck out of my way! " Footsteps scuffed the dirt followed by a threat or two from Christopher to whoever was blocking his way, Ivan I presumed, and I prepared for the show.

Letting out a growl I crouched in front of my mate and let a deafening snarl leave my lips as Christopher and Liam rounded the corner.

I didn't know what was going on behind me, but I could hear it. The slurping noise stopped and Jasper roared his own discourse at the intrusion in the room.

Interrupting a vampire during a meal was fucking stupid.

I faked a lunge at Christopher, whose eyes were wide with shock at the sight behind him. He stuttered a bit and at my movement, his frightened, disgusted eyes snapped to mine.

I took three more steps toward him and he began to retreat. Liam's face was no better than Christopher's.

I roared again and the snarls behind me increased.

Christopher's hesitation was getting risky, if he stayed in the room much longer, he'd know something was wrong with the scene.

I lunged at him again and he and Liam backed quickly out of the room.

"I told you not to go in there," Nevell mocked.

"Your fighter is devouring my fighter!" Christopher screamed and although the comment was directed at Liam, I presumed, it was Ivan who answered him.

"Well, I guess you lose then." Ivan said. Good for him, "Wasn't that the point?"

"I will not tolerate this!" Christopher said.

"Calm down," It was Vlad's voice that finally broke through, bringing voice of reason, "Your fighter chose to take his opponent out of the arena. What happened to him is only his fault. He brought on his own demise. He broke the rules and he is paying the price of his mistake."

"The malfunction of your security precautions created this, Caius! If it wasn't for your faulty equipment, none of this would have happened!" Christopher veered the attention away from the argument he wasn't going to win lashing out at Caius.

His comment brought so many snarky comebacks I had to bite my tongue to keep from verbalizing at least six of them. The spilled blood behind me made its presence known now that the immediate threat was out of the room. I stopped breathing making myself concentrate elsewhere.

"The equipment could not have malfunctioned! Vladimir's Gladiator wannabe's had to have set it off!" Caius argued.

"The Security wasn't even around the contraption when it went off!" Vlad disputed.

"How do you know that?" Christopher asked.

"I asked the ringmaster when I went up to see the damage behind the stadium, to see what the fuck had happened! The contraption was still smoking! Unoccupied might I add!" Vladimir triumphed.

So they had no idea I had caused the mayhem in the stadium. I doubted Eleazar had told Liam of my little talent. At least I was praying hard that he hadn't. If Liam knew, who knew what he would do with the information.

"This is getting us nowhere! Come, we must leave," Caius' voice had calmed but there was an authoritative demand there now.

"I'm not leaving without my fighter!" Christopher yelled.

"Fine, go in there and take away the meal from the clutches of that vampire in there. I will laugh when he tears you limb from limb. Don't be a fool, let's go." Caius challenged him.

Christopher continued to argue as their footsteps and voices getting further away.

I was about to come out when I heard Nevell's voice, "Aren't you going with them?"

"I would like to speak with Zee." I heard my Sire's voice request.

Shit, Fuck!

"I don't think that's a very good idea right now, do you?" Nevell asked.

"She is his mate, yes?" Vlad asked.

Silence. It confirmed what he already knew: Edward was not my mate, Jasper was.

"What do you know about anything? You should probably go, save face now. You don't have any security with you. You might want to think about that." Ivan's voice was aggressive and in the same breath letting me know who was left in the room.

"Is that a threat?" Vlad asked.

"I wouldn't dare make a threat to one of the Sovereignty on his own turf. That would be stupid," Ivan scoffed sarcastically.

"You have quite a mouth on you. You should mind your tongue."

Ivan didn't respond nor did Nevell.

I turned to look at Jasper who was now standing with Zorg against the wall.

He sent me caution knowing full well what it was I was going to do. I nodded to him, turned and made my way to the opening leading to the main room.

"What is it that you feel the need to badger me about," I asked quietly.

Vladimir stood near the door, close to his escape route if any of us attacked. Ivan stood halfway to the door on the left, giving me a clear view of Vlad. Nevell stood closer to me but even further left.

Vladimir turned to face me fully and I could see by the look on his face his apprehension was clear. Maybe he was rethinking the inspiration that had compelled him to stay behind and demand an audience with me.

"You and I must have a conversation," He told me.

"Shoot," I folded my arms and leaned on the wall to the showers.

I felt Jasper come up to lean on the wall beside me out of sight from the room. I almost jumped because my full attention was on the threat in the room in front of me and not on my mate. I just barely kept from giving him away by adjusting my position as if I was comfortable.

"In private," Vlad hissed quietly.

"No." I said.

He gave me an assessing look, taking my measure before he spoke again, "It would be in your best interest if you would give me a few minutes."

"Start talking, start fighting, or fuckin' leave." I said.

"It would be in your best interest if you were to not talk to me in such a manner. You would be wise to come with me before this turns ugly," His voice slowly rising in irritation as he spoke.

"Let me see if I get this straight?" I chuckled, "You're standing here in a room full of vampires, who by the way have my back, not yours, not to mention my mate behind me who's on a feeding high, and you have the balls to threaten me? You might be able to incapacitate one or even two of us before the others of us have you torn apart and ash… but trust me when I tell you, you won't even touch a hair on my head before you're a dead man."

He chewed on that.

"So," I continued, "If you have somethin' to say, get to talkin', or get the fuck out."

He surveyed the room, slowly glancing from one of us to the next. Seeing I was right in my estimation of future events if he were to make a move, his face dropped in resignation.

"Fine. I know you know who I am," I gave him credit for moving forth with this conversation and not leaving. He must have been disappointed when I didn't make a move to refute or deny his allegations. My steady stare confirming his words he moved on, "For whatever reason, or how you have found yourself here, you are my child."

"Beaten and _abandoned_ child," I reminded him. Monstress snarled.

"I am surprised that you remember that," he muttered chagrined.

"I didn't," I said but didn't elaborate.

"Then how-"

"You and I weren't the only ones there and you know it. But no matter, get on with it. What is it exactly that you're you hopscotchin' around? Get to your point, Vlad." I made a show of pure boredom in the conversation.

"My name is Vladimir. After this is over, you will be coming with me." Vlad finally made his claim.

I gaped at him. Did he just… he did, didn't he? He said… I laughed…a full on belly laugh.

He thought he could just demand me and believe I was going to follow along like some submissive bitch?

He was delusional as well as ballsy.

When I started coming down I looked at Vlad and laughed again at the rage on his face.

"You think I'm going home with _**you**_? You are fuckin' high." My voice rose incredulously.

"You are, by _Vampire Law,_ mine. Not only did I pay for you, I…Sired you." He forced out.

Negotiation time.

My favorite. Always has been, always will be.

"Yes, yes you did," I agreed and gave my best 'I'm psychotic' smile. By his flinch I succeeded, "Then you left me out in the middle of Canada in Eleazar's territory, didn't you? You never came back. Never looked for me over the last, what has it been, eighteen years? Never called Eleazar and told him what happened, did you? Although by _Vampire law_ you should have. I bet you didn't tell anyone of your little indiscretion did you? So in all rights, I belong to Eleazar."

Vladimir's face took on an ashen hue.

"But… wait there's more isn't there? You didn't call Eleazar, therefore Eleazar wouldn't know about me and I would have been free to be a nomad. OH, but wait, you thought I was Edward's mate. Did you contact Edward to let him know you killed me?"

Vlad remained quiet. Good boy.

"I guarantee you he never got that call," I said confidently. "So that's another _infraction _on your part isn't it? You changed what you believed to be someone else's _mate_. You thought you killed me, if I would have died Edward would have had the right to seek retribution for my death. But as it is, Edward is not my mate. I suppose we'll have to over look your misunderstanding seeing as how you were fed false information by Esme."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Vladimir snarled.

"Oh, but I do. And you don't know the half of it. Would you like me to enlighten you as to how much trouble and how much shit you've stepped in? 'Cause you should know just how badly you stink." I baited him.

I raised an eyebrow as Vlad clenched his hands at his sides, glancing back to the door and then back to me.

Ivan moved so fast I almost missed it. One moment he was standing there and next he was blocking the door to Vlad's only escape.

Vlad startled and drew three more feet into the room. He was trapped in here with us and by the look on his face he knew it.

"Let me tell you, Vlad, just how badly your stench stretches. You being a part of these Games, you knew who Alice was. You knew Alice was in Eleazar's territory. You knew Alice was Heidi's minion. You had to have known that Alice had taken a mate, did you not?" I asked and watched as his face morphed into confusion trying to figure out where I was going with this. It was obvious he truly didn't know.

I felt it was my obligation to inform him.

"Alice took the God of War, Major Jasper Whitlock, as a mate, didn't she?" Vladimir made no verbal reaction to my words but his body was stiff as a board, "Wouldn't it be interesting if you were to learn that he wasn't her mate at all, but mine instead."

Vladimir's face turned even more ghostly white.

Jasper wrapped his arm around my waist and pushed me away from the wall, effectively bringing him into view of Vladimir. I looked up to see Jasper smiling widely at Vlad's stricken face.

I smiled and turned back to Vladimir, "As you can see, Major Whitlock is very much alive and well. Seeing as he is my mate that trumps you nine ways to fuck off."

For a minute I thought he was going to throw up.

"So let me tell you what we're actually negotiating here," cold reality slipped into Vlad's eyes as I went on. "You took away my mate's right to change me. You left me in the middle of Eleazar's territory while I went through my Change. You told no one, thinking I was dead. You didn't even tell Alice. Knowing Alice she would have had you by the balls if she'd known. That's good blackmail material right there. She didn't like me, but you didn't know that.

"Not only did you torture me and change me, you BOUGHT me and someone who wasn't for sale...someone who resided in a residence not your own. That brings Eleazar into matters since Edward was under his protection at the time. NOW, do you think you have some right over me being my Sire? As far as I see it, my mate has the right to seek retribution for theft. If he chooses to let it slide it still brings up you abandoning me and that puts you in front of a council of your peers to pass judgment on your ass. What do you think Eleazar would say for you poaching, blackmailing and killing on his territory?

"So really, you have two choices, death now, or death later. Which would you like? Door number one or door number two?"

Jasper reached up and traced his finger down my ear. I wondered what he was doing until he took my earlobe between his fingers. Damn it. Before Jasper's fight I had turned off my COM. Jasper clicked it on now and I was shocked to hear all the yelling abruptly flowing into my ear.

I watched Vladimir think and tried to catch what was going on in my ear.

Mac was barking orders and Benjamin's team sounded like they were already on the way.

I cleared my throat as if getting impatient for Vlad's answer, inadvertently letting Mac know I was online.

"_Izzy!" _Mac squawked hearing my signal,_ "Ben is on his way, he's twenty minutes out. He'll stop a good distance away before detection. Choppers in the air are currently in firefights. Peter, Edward and Char are gathering troops, hurry the fuck up and make a decision on Vlad. Oh, Garrett made his way inside, he's with Peter and the others...Over."_ He sounded breathless, and in his element.

He didn't have to tell me twice.

Vlad went to open his mouth and I was already moving. My comrades needed me and I was fuckin' 'round with this joker. I couldn't believe they were already moving in.

I had him up against the wall with my hand solidly around his neck. I whispered to him soothingly, "Or there's another option. Seeing as you changed me against my will, and left me for dead, I have the right to challenge you. I choose door number three."

Vlad's body lurched alarmed, and he tried to reach for me as I ripped his head off. His body was in pieces in seconds. It felt so good to rip into him. My only wish was that he had fought back. I think I took him off guard. Bummer.

I blurred to the bags of our clothing and dumped them refilling them with Vlad, making sure the correct pieces didn't get put in together. Legs with arms, head with legs, torso by itself. I wasn't sure that completely killing him was the right thing to do. I needed to save him for later thought.

I turned to the room, "You heard Mac let's gather allies. Mac?"

"_Yes, boss. Over,_" Awe in his voice at having heard I took his words to heart.

"Where's the other Sovereignty?" I asked.

"_In the security building, as far as Peter and Garret knows_, _Over_" He said.

"Where're Peter and the others?"

"_South end of the preternatural building. The Alligator troops are with them_._ Over_"

Huh.

"Helping right?" Just to make sure.

"_Yes. Over_." He affirmed.

"Ok, let's go see what they've got going on. Vlad's going to have to stay here for a bit, if they find him they find him." I shrugged.

"_Actually I've got a chopper bringing you arsenal. If you can, find him a place to land. We'll pick up as we drop off. Over," _Mac informed us.

"What about Zorg?" Nevell asked. He and Ivan had moved to the door until Mac started talking again.

"You can come out now," Jasper looked around the corner and out came Zorg almost shyly.

"You heal fast, man," Nevell observed. You couldn't even tell Zorg had been in a fight. Well, except for the blood.

"Here," I dashed to the clothes I'd flung across the morgue gurney. Grabbing what I thought would fit him I threw him the clothes, "Go wash off and change."

He took the clothes and hurried around the corner back into the showers. I grabbed another set of clothes handing them to Jasper, "You too," I leaned in kissing him.

He took the clothes from me and turned around to follow Zorg. His shoulder was scarred with long gauging claw marks and I growled and pulled him back to me.

I wasn't sure if it was from the poison of Wolf-Beasts claws or not, but they were going to leave scars. They were closed now but it reminded me of not doing my job to take care of him.

Jasper turned around, "It's ok. They don't hurt anymore, the blood did its job, baby. I'm fine."

I grimaced still running my hand over his shoulder. I knew he was okay for the most part, but I could feel the pain through the bond and knew he was downplaying it.

"I'm ok, Isabella," He repeated and kissed me longer this time.

I nodded. He was so much tougher than me.

I let go because if I didn't I was a second away from dragging him cave-woman style into the shower to take care of him properly.

He smirked at me and headed it into the showers. I turned and leaned on the wall waiting.

"I never thought I would see the Izzy, warrior princess cracked for a man," Ivan commented breaking the silence.

"Shut-up," I told him half-heartily.

He and Nevell just laughed quietly.

"Why don't you guys go? We'll be right behind you." I said to them. There was no reason for them to stay.

"Are you sure we take Vlad outah here?" Ivan asked.

"Are you volunteering to carry him around?" I widened my eyes at Ivan.

He snarled shaking his head.

"I don't care. We'll take 'em then straighten shit out later… fuck 'em." I didn't care what the hell happened to him, "It felt damn good to rip the hell outah him I tell you what." I whispered.

Nevell snorted, "I bet."

Jasper and Zorg came back around the corner.

"What do you want Zorg? I guess I shouldn't just assume you want your freedom." Jasper asked him.

"I'm not sure actually what the hell is going on," He admitted.

"We're going to go. We'll catch up with the others and help out, meet up with you soon," Nevell said and he and Ivan left quickly.

I looked at Jasper. For some reason Jasper saved this man still in the room with us from death and I thought maybe it was better to come from him. In no way did Zorg pose a threat in his current form that I could see. We needed all the help we could get. This was it, this was why we were here. I could feel it in my bones. It was time to fight for their lives.

Jasper took my cue and turned to the boy looking lost and confused, "We're going to free everyone here, or die trying. Right now we're trying to get people on board to help us. I'll tell you straight, it's either with us or against us."

"The Gladiator men can't be taken out," Zorg responded sadly.

"Yes. They can. We have weapons that can penetrate their skin. Not enough of them, but we have troops coming in who can help us and who will have weapons. Are we going to have trouble with you when the fighting begins? How does your beast form work?" Jasper asked.

"Don't worry about that. I've never been able to change without Christopher's drugs," His eyes clouded over as if he was remembering the horrors of the years prior.

"So do you want to fight for your freedom, or do you want to go back to Christopher? We'll let you if that's really what you want." Jasper told him. Giving him the choice was a freebee given out only once and we all three knew it. We would let him walk out of here, but then all bets were off.

"No, if I can get away from him and be free… I don't know what I'll do with it but if I don't have to go back…." He fell over his words as he told us his choice.

"We have a place in Mexico, you're always welcome there. It might help to get you on your feet. In no way would you have to stay there forever, but it might help you re-group or whatever. There're lots of shifters and other preternatural there." I told him. I would have loved to sit down and listen to his story.

"That sounds like something I'd like to think about," He said slowly. He was so soft spoken it was hard to place him and the Wolf-Beast in the same place in my head.

"Ok. Then let's go help the others," I said and clapped my hands together.

"Mac," Jasper whispered as we headed for the door. Zorg gave him an odd look but didn't comment.

Mac was there instantly, "_Ground troops are five minutes out waiting for your 'go', and two of our choppers are in the air waiting for a signal and can be there as ground troops get there. Our other two Choppers are still handling some of the Giants security choppers, if you give us a few minutes they'll be all yours. I need Izzy or someone to take out the rocket launchers on the stadium so our chopper with arsenal can land. Then someone can meet them. Over."_

"We're doing this now?" I confirmed.

"_Do you have a better plan? You setting off that rocket kinda progressed our plans. Over."_ Mac sounded amused.

"Nothing gets by you. What about getting everyone on board with us first?" I was dumbfounded this was happening this quickly. I wasn't however surprised my group had figured out so quickly I was the one who set off the rocket.

"_Getting everyone on board is going better than we hoped for, all fighters are 'locked down' in your building. Peter and the others didn't have to tell many before it was spreading like wildfire. There've only been a couple of problems, but everyone seems to be gung-ho. What better time? Do you really think Sovereignty is playing cards in the security building? Over._" Mac had a point.

"This couldn't be a better time," Jasper chipped in, "why hold off and let the fighters start thinking twice about what we're doing? Besides we've got Vlad in a bag…" he trailed off with a snicker. He just couldn't help himself.

I was already on board but it was thrilling to see my mate so enthused.

"Perfect. We're on our way. Consider it done. Over." I said and dashed back to get the bags holding Vlad.

"Mac," Jasper asked, "When they took out the choppers, did they stay around long enough to see if the Giants withstood the blast?"

"_Nothing moved after we lit 'em up. If they can re-build themselves, that's another matter, but they can be taken out initially with a fire blast. Over."_ You could totally hear the elation in his voice.

"Good to know," Jasper's smile matched my own.

Zorg looked between the two of us now like we were crazy.

"We have communication devices in our ears," Jasper told him. Zorg's eyes lit up in understanding and have us a head bob.

Jasper nodded to me and opened the door. I looked quickly down the hall to see the rest of our troops slowly moving toward us talking to people in the hall as fast as they could. I didn't see a single Giant. I wondered where they were and if they knew they were under attack, considering Peter's theory they can talk to each other. I wasn't sure they could. I would think if they did they would be in here already taking care of business… or trying to.

"Mac, can you get the fighters out the back door?" Jasper said seeing the same thing I was.

"_Yes, most Giants are around the Sovereignty in the security building and the rest are manning the stadium and owners inside it. They put the owners in the stadium to try to protect them Garret said. I'll get Peter to take the fighters out the way you came in to the north. They tried to get Garret to go also, but he left the first chance he got. Oh, and by the way, I just want to let you know there's a surprise on the chopper for ya all. Over. " _Mac loved to be cryptic. I knew I could ask til' I was blue in the face and he wouldn't tell me.

"What is it," I asked anyway.

"_You'll have to see to believe, but by the way, Jasper, Peter has your katana. Over."_ I knew the latter part was to try to sidetrack us. It was also Mac's way to say he wasn't going to tell us.

"You're telling us that they've corralled everyone for us?" Jasper snickered shaking his head going back to what Mac told us about the owners.

Mac's chuckle echoed to us, "_Yes, I believe I am_."

We made our way out of the Exit and outside. The west end of the stadium was fifty yards from us at an angle as it curved around out of sight. The curve would take us to the gate the competitors had been going through, it was also where Zorg had dragged Jasper out of the arena.

I grabbed Jasper's shoulder and pointed to my eyes then the end of our building. He nodded and skirted to the edge to look around. He observed for a minute while I threw out my senses. Zorg and I were flat against the Exit door. Jasper flitted back to us.

"The Giants are on alert, but they're attention is on the stadium and closer to the Security building at the other end," He whispered. We looked up to the top of the stadium. Giants walked the catwalk, before they could turn to us we skidded to the backside of the building out of sight.

"Mac, when do you want the fireworks? Do we have anyone inside the stadium?" I asked looking back around the corner to see if we'd been seen. It didn't appear to be, but without being able to detect the fuckin' Giants, I wasn't sure.

"_No one is in the stadium. Peter is coming out the north with preternatural. Can you check to see if there's a chopper in the back? Over." _Mac ordered.

"There is. Just ," Jasper answered him.

I had turned around to see as Jasper and Mac talked. This side of the building was busy. Preternatural were filing out of the building where we had once gone in when we first got here. We were a hundred yards from the enormous doors that were now wide-open spilling fighters out of them.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**Don't Kill!**

**Next update Friday! PROMISE!**

**Leave me your wordy words and tell me your minds' view.**

**;)**


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N**

**Are you ready? ME TOO! I can't wait to know what you think!**

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**There're only a few chapters left… just so you all know. Maybe 3 to 4 more after this.**

**(=+=+=)**

**Beginning of Third Day…..Freedom Fight.**

_**Previously;**_

"Mac, when do you want the fireworks? Do we have anyone inside the stadium?" I asked looking back around the corner to see if we'd been seen. It didn't appear to be, but without being able to detect the fuckin' Giants, I wasn't sure.

"_No one is in the stadium. Peter is coming out the north with preternatural. Can you check to see if there's a chopper in the back? Over." _Mac ordered.

"There is. Just one," Jasper answered him.

I had turned around to see as Jasper and Mac talked. This side of the building was busy. Preternatural were filing out of the building where we had once gone in when we first got here. We were a fifty yards from the enormous doors that were now wide-open spilling fighters out of them.

**~FREEDOM REIGNS~**

**~Izzy POV~**

"Chopper is unmanned, Mac," I heard Jasper tell Mac.

"_Good. Light the fucking place up, Izzy,"_ Mac ordered.

I leaned up against the building stretching my mind concentrating. Like fingers through sand I searched for what I needed. Blinking I changed my sight, focusing my eyes toward the stadium I zoned in on what I hunted.

I could hear Peter and others approaching us, but I tuned them all out, knowing Jasper wouldn't let anything happen to me.

Focusing, I knew I would have to move fast. I grabbed the most westerly launcher and flexed my mind. If felt the contraption move just slightly. Taking a huge breath I pushed harder. I felt it spin back into the stadium. Recalling what I had done to make it go off last time, I applied it now.

The hiss of the launcher engaging and the initiate flaring in my head went off like a warning bell. I let go of the web I'd incased around it in my mind to be able to move it before it could blind me this time. I immediately changed my focal points to the northerly launcher setting it off before the first one had even hit anything. The first rocket exploded, shaking the ground under my feet and the building I was holding up with my hands.

I lost focus for a second before regaining composure just in time for the second rocket to hit what should have been the announcer's booth.

My infrared vision lit up in a fiery red and I had to shut my eyes to block it out. The blasts rang out in the afternoon followed by screaming, and I knew I wasn't done. The afternoon was quickly escalating and there was no stopping it now.

Gritting my teeth I shoved my senses out harder locating my next objective, trying to draw strength from Monstress. She didn't fail me as I pulled from her, my focus became stronger and I was able to grab a hold of the easterly rocket launcher. Instead of aiming it into the stadium, I aimed it for the other launcher south of it.

I wasn't sure it was going to work. I didn't know where the Giants were.

I pushed with my mind on the east launcher and it didn't budge. I pushed harder. It still gave resistance. What the fuck?

Giants. Had to be. That might be why the launcher was aimed at the preter building my hands lay on. Shit. The Giant was going to fucking fire toward us.

Grabbing the next launcher south in line, hoping it wasn't manned too, I thrust with all my minds strength. It resisted.

I pushed harder.

Damn it! It resisted.

Peter's question came to me about being able to manipulate the Giants. I had never tried.

No time like the present.

Reaching into the depths of my being I pulled all the power I could muster.

I felt my body fill with a strength from a place that was foreign yet familiar. I latched onto this strength and used it.

Seizing what felt like blankness next to the launcher I tried to swing it back toward the launcher I had just released. The blank spot moved! It gave in easily in fact and with it moved the launcher and I fired it without hesitation when I reached my target.

I didn't let go with my minds' web fast enough this time, white lightening ricocheted thought my minds eye.

My knees hit the ground with the effort to pull back, but it was too late. My head wrenched back and my mouth flew open in a silent scream.

I couldn't hear or see anything. I clamped my mouth shut and ground my teeth together, digging my fingers into the building.

**~ Jasper POV~**

Mac told Izzy to set the fucker on fire and she immediately leaned on the building and shut her eyes.

I stood with my back to her so I could see every angle and guard her protectively.

Zorg took a look at me seeing my stance he turned and went to the edge of the building knowing it was our blind side. Kid had some instincts. His emotions fluxed from fear to anticipation, his adrenaline feeding mine.

I growled lowly before I could stop it when I saw Peter, Char and Nevell coming.

Peter nodded and stopped several feet from us. "Here," he handed me the katana and one the knives I'd lost in the arena.

I gave a tight nod.

"If you've got her we're going to head down to the other end. The alligators are coming to back you up while we keep the fighters from going ballistic before show time," Peter whispered lightening fast even for a vampire.

"Why aren't the Giants around? Not that I mind the reprieve, but what the fuck?" I whispered back just as fast.

"They're in the stadium and around the security building," Nevell said.

"But why? Why aren't they doing crowd control?" I wondered what the hell they were up to.

"They're stationed around the security building unmoving. They have to know what's going on. But they've got that building surrounded. I'd say blow it up, but I know they've got ghouls in there with them somewhere. I don't know the layout inside and we don't have weapons to plow through their forces yet." Peter said looking back behind him as the alligators made their way to us.

"What's the plan?" Nevell asked.

"When she gets the rockets going, choppers will land, we'll exchange cargo," I informed them.

"Then we'll cultivate the armored mother fuckers," Peter grinned rubbing his hands together.

I thought about something, it was a long shot but I voiced it anyway, "Do you think they're guarding the Sovereignty from us or do you think they're holding them prisoner?"

"That's a thought, but I don't think so, we can check it out before we 'cultivate' them," Nevell looked at Peter shaking his head using Peter's colorful terminology.

"Al'right, we're outah here. Keep safe and we'll see you east after you do the exchange. We aren't moving 'til we got weapons." Peter and Nevell left just as the first rocket went off.

Screams sounded from beyond and the alligators all nodded at me as they surrounded us, a couple joining Zorg at the end of the building.

I felt my mates struggle and adrenaline spike. She was standing with her hands on the building when I turned to her and I could see her face was almost pressed to the concrete, seeing things I couldn't.

I kept track of the alligators' emotions behind me and turned to her as her body suddenly jerked and stiffened. I didn't know what she doing, but I heard the second rocket explode.

More screaming filled the air and complete chaos came from the other side of the stadium in time with the explosion.

I felt the anticipation spike around me and the alligators sprinted to the corner of the building.

A pull from within me shocked me and I tried to figure out what the hell was happening. Major purred in acceptance at whatever it was. He seemed to catch on faster than I did. The feeling was as if our mate was drawing strength from our bond.

Izzy let out a keening noise and I wasn't sure if I should touch her or not. Major snarled and clawed my shoulders in frustration.

I made a quick perusal of our surroundings; the left side - off toward Peter and the other fighters - was now vulnerable since the alligators were focused elsewhere. I swear my heart beat with the desire to take Izzy and run.

I turned back to Izzy as her body jerked again, and I felt another tug from our bond. Major was roaring and I wasn't sure what the fuck he wanted me to do.

He pushed against me like he wanted to rip out of me.

I let loose, going on pure instinct and I gave her what she seemed to be demanding. I let my strength flow into my mate, I let Major take over and felt the energy flow from us into her. Another thing to ponder when this shit was all over.

Movement out of the peripheral had my head turning with a growl, but when I saw it was Ivan and Edward I cut it off.

Izzy's body jerked back, she fell to her knees, her face wrenching skyward and her mouth fell open just as two explosions went off simultaneously.

The fighters to the east cheered. - Days later I would find out that she blew up a Giant who had trained one of the rocket launchers on the building we were standing behind. It had appeared to others that one Giant had taken out the other when Izzy's manipulation fired off the rocket hitting his comrade. It took him out _and_ ignited the other rocket before it could fire. The west side of the stadium exploded.

I grabbed Izzy not caring anymore. I had to touch her. Her hands dug into the building she was gripping and it crumbled under her hands.

She panted spraying venom through her teeth, she sputtered, "Can't… see."

I held her, her back to my front. I could hear the choppers coming. We'd have to move soon. I knew people were talking in my ear, but Isabella needed time. I wasn't sure what all had happened, but I knew I would sit with her until she got her wits. Ivan and Edward had brought fighters with them. We were safe.

"Do you have a second pilot on that bird, Mac?" I heard Ivan ask who'd taken position behind us.

_"Yep," _Mac said.

"That chopper on the ground could use a man," Ivan said.

_"Copy." _Mac acknowledged

"Can you stand, Isabella?" I asked as I pulled her up with me, we were going to have to move.

"Yeah," she panted gaining control. Her eyes were open and her body wasn't as stiff.

"We gotta get to the chopper with your package," She nodded at my words, "Can you see? What happened?"

"I didn't let go fast enough, I'm ok," She blinked, "Spots, but I'm ok."

I understood she must have lost her sight for a minute from whatever she had done. Add it to the discussion for another day.

Without releasing her I grabbed a bag below her feet handing it to her and then picked up the other two, "Let's go."

The chopper was landing a hundred and fifty yards from us and we'd have to cut across into the open to get to them.

To the east I could hear the fighting break out, but with over a hundred plus fighters I knew Peter and them could hold the line.

"_Get the shit off the chopper, Ben's coming from the east as we speak, he'll help 'em til' you get them their shit,_" Mac informed us with a bark as if he'd read my indecision.

Just as I was about to protest how vulnerable we would be out in the open, I saw the other chopper come around the west side of the building giving cover to the first chopper and us. They fired on the stadium; another explosion erupted knocking us into each other.

Fuck, I loved this team of people.

I took Izzy's hand and we took off.

Ivan and Edward stayed behind with the alligators directing traffic as people started pouring out of the burning stadium. It sounded like they were having a hard time keeping people from fleeing. _'__Let them go'_, I mentally thought and hoped Edward heard me, _'we'll need every fighter to kill the Giants'_.

We neared the chopper, two uniformed ghouls stepped out and what I would assume Mac's surprise stepped out right behind them with the biggest shit-eating grin I had ever seen.

Izzy stumbled and growled, "Do you think this is wise, Mac?" she hissed lowly enough the whirring of chopper blades covered her words. We kept walking toward the chopper with my hand on her back encouraging her forward.

Mac still heard her words, "_Well, boss. He out ranks me,_" then he laughed because we all knew that was untrue when it came to our operation. He wasn't part of our group and Mac could have stopped him if he'd wanted to. What the hell had been going on since we'd been gone?

"You're so full of shit. What the fuck is he doing here?" As the words left her mouth yet another surprise stepped out right behind the first...then another. With the chopper going I hadn't scented any of the occupants now coming off carrying our cargo.

"_He wants to have a word with Sovereignty, and I don't think it's to petition them to join. The other one is there to fight. And the third is there…as a neutral observer. He'll make sure what happens is just. Over."_

"Good lord," Izzy said and we started to pick up our pace.

"_I hear ya, boss_." Mac drawled, "But I didn't have a choice and thought you'd need a pick-me-up 'bout now."

"I _owe_ you, Mac," I didn't think it was meant in a good way but Mac laughed.

We got within hearing distance and Izzy spoke to the nearest ghoul, "Hey, Chip, good to see you guys made it! This here," she said holding up and then tossing the bag she had at him, "is to be guarded at all costs. That guy in there has got some show-and-tell for later."

Chip nodded to her, "A'right boss," and turned to throw it back to a guy in the chopper.

When he turned back around I threw my two bags to him then faced Eleazar, "You got some balls."

"No time for chatter, young Major, let's go get us some action." Then he laughed and I swear he'd picked up Izzy's 'I'm psycho' smile.

Right behind him the other surprise stepped up slapping my back.

Emmett's other arm was full of bags. I quickly took them from him and looked behind him but he was shaking his head at me.

"I'll explain later." He grinned as explanation that Rose wasn't here.

I nodded and the next man stepped forward and I wasn't sure who it was, but by Isabella's reaction she knew all too well.

"Anymore surprises Mac?" Izzy snarled.

"No, boss." Mac affirmed.

We were on constant move through the whole of introductions.

"Jasper Whitlock," Isabella said, "This is Alistair."

Alistair? The ghost voter for the Powers? The unofficial tie breaking Power 9? Holy hell.

"Nice to meet you." and just because I was an ass and didn't feel like fucking babysitting without stopping from helping unload the chopper I said "I hope you know we can't watch your back here."

He grinned evilly, "Have no fear."

I gave him a short nod of acknowledgement.

"_They need to take off_," Mac barked.

We hurried forward filling our arms with bags and totes and took off back to the building. I pointed Eleazar Emmett, and Alistair to the east and Izzy and I went west.

Actually _seeing_ Benjamin's troops, swarming like bees to join the battle from the east, eased my mind. I wasn't sure how all this shit had happened so fast.

As we approached the groups of fighters, Ivan ran out to meet us, taking some of our load. He hadn't been able to hold the line and the battle had already begun.

I heard our Apache helicopter take off behind us and was surprised when I registered hearing the Giant's chopper was already fired up. I didn't see who was manning it, but it was leaving. It whirred to life scattering even more debris around us. Maybe they could take out the rest of the stadium for us. I couldn't imagine there was much left of it.

And just as I thought that, I heard the whoosh and whirr of a rocket being fired from the stadium. My heart in my throat I whipped around to see a rocket just miss the Giant's chopper blades as it rose into the air. The rocket whistled by, hitting the ground harmlessly several hundred yards away.

Izzy grabbed my arm and we tore into the bags and started handing out knives and swords just as Edward joined to help. I gathered Benjamin had his own sources to get the reinforced weaponry. We had enough to slaughter for days. The weapons seemed to hum in anticipation as we tossed them to fighters. The alligators were all too happy to take some off our hands.

Looking around I saw shape shifters mid form, changing for battle, a Siberian white tiger the most impressive. Sherman took a sword from me and saw me looking at the shifters.

"They can't help but change. The adrenaline and smell of blood make them change. They're in frenzy. It's what they're programmed for." He gritted out. I wondered why he wasn't changing but didn't ask. I wondered if he could. He hadn't in the ring.

I nodded in understanding.

I heard our Apache chopper curve back toward us and as they flew over the preternatural building, they let go of their Hydra rocket launchers. Knowing that information, I realized that I watched too many war movies and read too much military propaganda. I also thought it was highly ironic that the Hydra term referenced the beast of Greek Mythology. I shook my head to clear it of random shit. Our choppers continued hitting the stadium.

Having armed every from of our cargo, our entire regiment moved around the building west. We made it just around the edge when we heard the explosion.

I thought maybe Izzy was setting off more rockets. I couldn't imagine there being many more left. The next explosion immediately following shook hard and I fell to my knees. Major growled in my head and I turned to see where Izzy was. She was next to me covering her ears.

"What the fuck was that?" I thought maybe she had her senses out and could tell what had happened or maybe it _had_ been her.

"Security building. Wasn't me." she said shaking her head.

"Fuck!"

_"The Security Building is gone, Peter and a group are chasing some escapees__." _It was Cheese in our ears this time affirming our suspicions.

"Assistance needed?" Izzy asked.

A brief pause, _"No_, _they got it. Over_." Cheese alleviated some of our fears.

As we rounded the corner of the building we were met by a frantic hoard of members, robed and stampeding directly toward us.

The stadium behind them was in flames.

Smoke and sulfur smell filled the air.

Izzy let go of a battle cry and screamed, "Kill! Freedom!" and our regiment attacked with answering guttural screams.

We shot forward as one.

Blood, venom and death filled the air and was trapped in our nostrils, in our souls and in our hearts. Clinging to us with a vengeance no one could shake.

Fueling the fire to kill.

To slay.

I fought with my hands, my body and the Katana's, using the two swords like flyswatters.

I couldn't believe anyone had survived the flaming inferno before us but it really didn't matter. Major reared his head and we met the robes coming, with the end of our blades.

Settling on decapitation as the best course of action and figuring dismemberment, if they survived, would come later. If they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it wasn't our fucking problem. There was no stopping to ask questions.

Battle cries of the preternatural creatures rose around us.

Blood, venom and fear rose and fed our beasts within. The distinct smell of gunpowder from the rockets choked out most of it, but when it smeared our faces, there was no denying it.

We continued to make our way around the building and came to a wall of thick smoke, seeing nothing and everything at the same time.

The flames had died down and the black smoke rose to take its place.

As we slaughtered our way through the stampede the smoke began to choke us visually, vampire or not, it became almost impossible to see.

"Incoming right!" Izzy screamed and I turned just in time to thrust my blade through a robed vampire with me set in his sights. "Left!" she screamed again from behind me and I realized the smoke wouldn't hinder her second sight in this soup of smoke. I slashed the throat of the Giant to the left and sliced his belly open spraying blood over both of the ground and us.

We needed to get out of this, it was suicide, and we'd end up killing each other.

"Mac, report east," I barked.

"_East against Giants and robed_," His instant reply.

"To the east," Izzy yelled as we plunged into the smoke further, "Can't tell friend from foe, they need us east, stay close and follow us!" She yelled behind us.

Some followed some didn't and we didn't have time to sit and convince them to go with our agenda and not theirs.

Killing the owners became second on the list to backing up our team. However, the fighters wanted revenge and slaying the Robed was hard to let go in their minds.

Following the preternatural building down to the east, Izzy leading us through the smoke, you could tell there was nothing left of the stadium.

"Mac," my voice choked with smoke.

"_Major_?"  
"Stadium is gone, choppers available for sweeping this smoke out?"

"_Ten four, consider it done. Over."_

We came out of the haze, a little, at the end of the building and were immediately met with sight I will never forget.

Carnage spread before us. Blood and venom soaked the ground. The battle raged in roars of battle cries. Preternatural fought side by side against their enemies.

Giants, fighters, and robed littered the ground and without second thought we dove head first into it.

Bodies of the fallen lay at our feet as we made our way through the bedlam.

My sword's blades cut into Giant flesh with gluttony. The more I fed them the blood of the Giants the more they wanted. I sliced and diced my way through Giant flesh leaving them dying behind me.

Izzy by my side.

Fighting as one.

We didn't stop.

No uncertainty.

No vacillation.

No wavering.

No hesitation.

We slaughtered.

Battle cries filled the air mingling and fed with the cries of those on the ground.

If attacked, we killed.

I felt nothing. My body became numb from the emotions around me. The bond that held me to my mate was there, but it was as if Monstress had done the same for her. She'd cut her emotions off. We were focused on the task at hand. Nothing was going to stop us.

We became death with a face.

The more we cut down the more they rose. Giants came from nowhere, arms outstretched, attacking over and over.

Izzy stayed with me, back to back, we fought, for someone else's freedom. We fought for the right to be in a world with these preternatural that few knew even existed. We fought next to them and with them to set them free.

We fought for the lives that were wasted and the lives that had been created. We fought for those who had fallen in years past and the newly fallen in this battle.

We fought as one.

The swords sang in my hands as I fed them their justice, their vengeance, as they punished those who had twisted their fates.

It was a heady feeling.

Knowing the swords were made from those who'd been sacrificed before their time was up made my arms move that much faster and with more precision than I knew myself capable of.

Making our way to the edge of the mêlée, we got the new incoming attacks first hand. The Giants teamed up and attacked in pairs. They really could fight and not just intimidate. They were strong, fierce, and hard as fuck to take down.

I swung my sword as Major gave me strength and knowledge. He saw things I didn't. He took my mind to a place we once knew and we battled like we had long ago.

This time, I was on the defensive side. I fought not to demolish and conquer, but to survive. Not for territory. Not for intimidation. Not for the fun of it. For Freedom of others.

For the Greater Good.

It felt so fucking right.

Exhilarating.

I screamed at how rousing the awareness over took me.

I felt no pain as Giant after Giant attacked us.

The Alligators fought singly, their scales an iridescent beacon in the sun.

I sidestepped a Giant, slashing his neck open and saw Eleazar taking the head off a robed vampire with both hands. Alistair had Eleazar's back slashing into another vampire who'd charged Eleazar while he was busy.

One follow through swing had me seeing Zorg back in his Beast form. I prayed he was on our side and just as I thought it, he grabbed a Giants head and ripped it off. Who was that guy?

Dodging, hedging, feigning, swinging, stabbing, ripping, slashing, screaming, commanding, defending, attacking.

At some point I'd seen all of us fighting and making our through the crowd of owners who'd stayed or come back to fight. Who knew which and it didn't matter, we took them all down.

Peter and Char fight back to back as Izzy and I did.

I hadn't seen Nevell but Edward was in the thick of spraying blood and knew Nevell wouldn't be too far off. Emmett fought off a Giant who'd latched onto his arm with a mighty roar and a slash of his sword.

We wove our way, my mate and I, through it all, laying our mark upon our world.

Slipping in the fluid soaked earth beneath our feet.

When I raised my sword to swipe at the vampire in front of me my stroke stopped mid swing.

The vampire was Edward - next to him Emmett. They were splattered in blood and venom and their clothes ripped half way off their bodies.

I panted.

He panted.

He held his sword above his head gripped in both hands.

He grinned lowering his sword as well and we stared at each other for a full three second before I realized Izzy had slumped against my back, and that the battle was over.

Awareness of a new kind made itself known.

My head shot around to look at our surroundings and saw everyone had stopped.

An eerie quiet came over us as we stood amongst redemption.

The chopper blades, a sudden soothing whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp, hovering above us clearing the smoke and helping where they could, chasing the down the escapees. They had faded into the background at some point, and they slowly came back online in my head.

We stood in the carnage before us and let it slowly sink in, as we comprehended our states of being.

I was facing Edward, Emmett and empty tundra. New bite marks and scars littered their bodies.

I slowly turned to see what was left. Izzy pulled herself off my back and stood silently next to me. The place was… devastation.

Gore. Macabre. Horror.

Then in a whoosh the rest of the noise came back. It was as if you had to see it for it to be real. The screams of pain and not the warriors' cry into battle, registered finally as I saw the fallen. For a full minute we stood and absorbed the destruction we had initiated. Grabbing hold of our bearings and settling our states of mind from the frenzy we'd been in.

The stadium lay smoldering in the background, like a beacon of its own demise. Where once these preternatural spilled blood, now laid the black wreckage of fallen souls. Smoke curled into the sky from red-hot embers, making patterns and swirls in the soft breeze. The Apache helicopter that had hovered above rose higher to let the tendrils of smoke dissipate on their own.

The preternatural building had taken a beating on the east wing and there wasn't much left. It, like the stadium, stood in ruin. As we watched, another section crumbled under its own weight.

I wasn't sure where they had been being kept, but I saw human remains amongst the gruesomeness near the exit of the large doors still standing wide open leading into the charred blackened building. At some point the humans had been released, but during a battle such as this, they hadn't stood a chance. They now lay drained and broken amongst the aftermath.

I heard Izzy gasp and turned to her. Grabbing my arm her eyes swept me and her face hardened.

"Fuck," her lips hissed and I cocked my head at her ferocious feelings.

Then I got a look at her.

My mind had seemed to be numb, Major had taken control and cut off the emotions of battle so we would survive the fray. I wasn't quite back up and on my own yet, but when we saw Isabella had sustained injuries we took hold with a vengeance.

I saw her arm my own rage came roaring up and I hissed.

Reaching for her arm the same time she reached for my shoulder. Her left arm seemed to have been bitten at least fifteen times. Gently as I could, ran a finger over some of the torn flesh putting it back into place. I ripped away her battered bloody, venom soaked sleeve and licked her skin to help the gashes stitch themselves back together. Two places of flesh hung in strips down her arm. I noticed a new bite mark on her hand and my eyes caught a glimpse of her left thigh. There was a chunk of meat hanging from her torn jeans.

Pain shot through my elbow and I looked down to see my elbow bone showing. I don't even remember it happening, but as soon as I saw it, my body lit on fire with pain. I gritted my teeth as I became aware of the rest of me that had seen the battle up close and a little too personally. Somehow I'd lost my shirt, it hung limply from jeans and I ripped it the rest of the way off.

My elbow fucking hurt like a bitch. How had I not noticed it? Because I was paying too much attention to my mate. I'd kept tabs on her, but like me, she'd pushed her pain down. Now that both of us were coming out of combat mode I was almost knocked to my knees with our pain.

I knew I should be helping the others, I knew I should be trying to ease the suffering of the wounded until we could piece together the survivors lying broken on the ground. But I just couldn't move my eyes from my wounded mate.

She needed me.

I needed her.

My head swam with the emotions now filling me coming from the fallen. Major helped to cut them off. I was already overwhelmed and frantic. I didn't need more of it flooding my system right now. My mate and I had lost a lot of venom.

After the fight with Zorg I had drank two bags of blood replenishing what I'd lost during his and my fight on the sand. But the gaping hole in my elbow and leg were depleting that. The venom seeping from my body was pink tinged, a sure tell that I had eaten recently.

Isabella needed blood. I shot my eyes to the end of the chard structure that once held our bags of blood.

It was gone, along with it the salvation my mate needed. My eyes scanned the dead humans in front of the doors, looking for life, only to find none.

I saw Peter further away tending to Charlotte. They must have come back from the chase earlier. He seemed to be in the same state I was, or worse.

"Mac," I whispered hoarsely. Desperately.

"_It's on the way, give me five, Major,"_ Mac had read the anxiety and need in my voice. How that man knew what he did and how he could foresee the way he did was beyond me. Maybe it came by experience alone. He knew how his teams worked, what they needed and when they needed it.

Alice had had a gift for foresight. She could see the future and change it as she pleased and saw fit. She could foretell most times what needed to be done. She planned and connived her entire life. She used it solely for personal gain.

Mac had no such gift, but the fucker was uncannily aware of everything. And he used every talented bone to give to his friends and family. I almost wanted to kiss him. Almost.

Three choppers appeared on the horizon and was a blessed thing indeed. As they approached I tried to pull my shit together. Izzy and I were still tending to each other licking and sealing each other's bite wounds. All in all it wasn't that bad. But any mark on her, not by my mouth, was unacceptable.

I ripped her jeans open giving one leg a Duke's of Hazard makeover to reveal her injured thigh. I took my shoulder out of her grasp and away from her soothing tongue to administer my own attention to her leg.

The chopper landed close and I picked Isabella up and ran with her. The ghoul Isabella had called Chip earlier was there before the chopper sat all the way down, with a duffle bag.

"Major," He nodded.

"Chip," and the man's face lit up in a grin when I knew his name. I nodded to him and took the tote. Isabella squirmed out of my arms slapped an un-bit part of my chest and rolled her eyes telling me she could walk. I snorted. I hadn't even realized really what I'd been doing. We took two bags apiece and without preamble downed them. Isabella handed me a third and I downed it as well.

We both ignored the flush and rush of lust we both felt and grabbed for the tote. Ghouls had come out of the choppers as they landed with more bags full of blood and had flown past us into the battered war zone to help the wounded.

Pulling Isabella to me I kissed the fuck out her until we were both panting I pulled away, "Love you," I whispered.

"Love you," She said and pecked my lips again.

"_Love you, too,'_" Mac snickered. It broke our tension and we let a tiny moment for laughter overtake us. I felt the tension of my muscles relax a fraction. A much needed fraction.

"Watch it ol' man," I told him and I could tell even over half a world away that his tension was eased a fraction as well.

As Izzy and I parted we quickly decided to get the wounded and alive out of the mess and to cleaner ground once they were fed. Everyone took up a chore and began helping in any way they could, especially those who couldn't help themselves.

Two minutes passed, not more, and I heard my mate scream, "Nevell!" I turned from the guy I was helping to reattach his arm to see Izzy looking around frantically.

I stood and glanced around accounting our group quickly.

"_REPORT!"_ Mac barked.

We did. With one missing.

Ivan was helping a shapeshifter thirty feet away with resetting broken bones.

Peter and Char were handing out bags of blood.

Emmett and Edward appeared to be helping a few vampires look for lost appendages.

Eleazar and Alistair were helping someone out of the macabre that couldn't stand.

But no Nevell.

I hadn't even thought anything was off when I'd seen Edward with Emmett and not Nevell when the fighting was done.

"Nevell!" Izzy panicked further.

"_I can hear him, he's down_!" Mac screamed in our ears. At least it told us he was alive.

I joined Izzy and we started sifting through bodies frantically.

"He was on the south side of the building when we last saw him, let's start there, Izzy," Peter motioned as he started out in that direction. With a direction to focus on we took off after Peter. The east side of the preternatural building was almost fully erect. Between the smoke and death filling the air, sniffing him out was nearly impossible. The lingering smoke wafting around us and the blood and venom only confused our senses.

"Nevell!" Izzy shrieked.

"Easy baby, we'll find him," Char, Ivan and Edward joined our search as we hollered and picked up the broken, moving them to the side in search of our missing piece.

"Nevell!" She yelled ignoring me and I pulled her down and in between the stadium and what was left of the other building.

"Zzzeee" I heard a moaned plea and grabbed onto the emotions of recognition Nevell was projecting and pulled Izzy toward the wall of the preternatural building. Izzy wrenched out of my hands as I called for Mac.

"I need a chopper Mac," I choked when I saw Nevell.

"_How bad_," His voice panicked as well. It was the most emotion I'd ever heard from him.

"I need the chopper yesterday," I said in means to tell him how severe it was without saying the words directly.

Nevell lay propped against the building in which he'd seemingly dragged himself, with only one and a half legs. He'd tied a vamp-ash binding as a tourniquet to it, but he'd lost a lot of blood. He was torn up on his left side, blood and venom pooling below his body.

"Char!" Peter ordered, "Get that tote of blood we just had!"

"I told you!" Izzy scolded Nevell and held his face in her palms. My heart swelled for her. It was horrible to see him there like that. I didn't even have the attachment they all did to this man, but I still felt my own panic at almost losing him.

His eyes looked up to her and he tried to give her a smile, it came out all wrong, "Bloody hell, it took ya long enough."

She didn't laugh.

"I don't… feel…pain any more… love," he whispered as his eyes focused a little better on her.

"What! NO!" Izzy yelled, "Don't you fucking dare!"

"Easy, baby," I bent down next to her to hold her arms from grabbing him, "I'm helping him." She relaxed immediately knowing his lack of pain was my doing and not one that came with death.

"Those some good… drugs my man," Nevell slurred a little more coherently.

Char came screeching around the corner with at least ten bags of blood.

"I don't think he'll need all those," Peter joked but his voice was strained, "They'll just leak right back out the fucker."

Nevell tried to laugh, managing to choke up blood instead.

I heard the chopper landing and Edward took off to lead them here.

"Don't you fuckin' die on me!" Izzy hissed. I held her a little tighter.

"Ain't goin'… nowhere," Nevell breathed.

I picked her up in my arms and pulled her back when ghouls came around the corner carrying a stretcher.

"_They'll take 'em to the jet that's still in that little town you guys first came into. There's med tech's there that can fix 'em up._" Mac told us.

Two ghouls put him on the stretcher gently as they could and Ivan came flying over, "Look ol' man, can't go without yer leg." He held up the bloody mess that was Nevell's missing leg and put it on the stretcher with him.

"Feckin' Ivan, I owe ya mate," Nevell rasped. Even with the three bags of blood he'd taken he was still out of it. Peter had been right, it just seemed to flow through him. I thought about goin' with him for a moment to keep him sedated, but when I asked him he waved me off.

"I'd like to go with him," Edward said.

I looked at him with raised my eyebrows, "Are ya askin' or tellin'? I ain't you're momma."

Edward shook his head, "Tellin'." And he turned on his heel and followed the ghouls carrying Nevell. Izzy was already following them to the chopper.

We all watched as they loaded several others along with Nevell on stretchers and then took to the air.

"That was bad. That's really fuckin' bad. I told him one day…" Izzy trailed off watching the chopper fly out of sight.

"Hey, easy. He's goin' to be al'right darlin," I soothed, "He's a grown man he wouldn't want it any other way than to fight next to us all. You know that. He's fuckin' tougher than you give 'em credit for."

"I know, but…"

"Don't you dare let him hear ya talkin' like that Izzy," Peter reprimanded, "That fucker is tough as nails and you know it. He's in good hands and he'll be good as new in no time. Put that energy to some good and let's help out the folks we can here."

Izzy turned to him and started to argue until she got a look at the still wounded fighters littering the ground. She took a huge breath, letting it out slowly and nodded.

The next hour was spent helping the wounded. The reinforcement of ghouls on the ground was a welcome sight. They hadn't been able to help in the battle but they were putting in their fair share of work in the aftermath. We scrambled to find parts to salvage what we could. We wouldn't add to the stadium fire by adding the scattered parts until everyone found their appendages and pieces.

The choppers flew in and out taking the more wounded out of the mess. Cheese told us there were several surgeons now set up at the airport secured in a bunker. They'd made a makeshift hospital out of it. We'd paid the local townsfolk a mighty sum to turn their heads and ignore the activity.

We came upon our group, at the corner of the preternatural building. They had stopped working and we all stared at the sight before us. We'd been working our way to this project and now that it was here we weren't sure what to do first. It was obvious from afar nothing in the building would have survived, and sifting through an eerily quiet building wasn't something any of us was looking forward to. We knew there had been ghouls stored here, and looking at their remains, knowing we hadn't been able to save them, put a weight of guilt on our shoulders.

The smell of human and ghoul death rose from its charred and destroyed walls.

"Who shot it?" Izzy asked looking at the destroyed Security building.

"Uh, we're not sure," Peter said befuddled.

"_They shot it themselves trying to hit our choppers, eyes in the sky said they saw one of the Giants with a launcher, the stadium got hit and knocked the Giant off and the launcher fired. The second explosion is unaccounted for, but it wasn't from us."_ Mac relayed.

"Didn't you chase some of them down?" Peter asked.

"Tried to chase down Christopher, but he was so fast. The choppers took off after him and we came back to the battle," Peter said miffed.

"_We didn't catch him either, he was long gone, we didn't find any of the others either, I'm not so sure when or even if they ran,_" Cheese's voice interrupted.

"Anyone seen Liam?" Peter growled.

Everyone gave a negative headshake.

"Do you see anything in there, Izzy?" I asked because she was eyeing the smoldering building like she was watching something.

"The back corner," She whispered and took off.

I looked at Peter and we took off behind her.

Our gang hot on our heels.

Eleazar and Alistair pulled up the rear. They'd been helping in the aftermath. Both seemed to have sustained little to no injuries.

We rounded the rubble, into the smoldering Security building to see Izzy knee deep in concrete.

"They're in there! Underground!" she yelled.

"Sovereignty?" Eleazar asked.

"Ghouls and humans," she snapped.

Chipping in, there were suddenly groups of us pulling broken concrete off where Izzy directed us. I could feel the ghoul's and human emotions under our feet and weak cries drifted up through the piles as we moved chunks of concrete.

Ivan moved a chunk and we got our first glimpse at life. A dirty exhausted ghoul peered back at us with the biggest grin on his face imaginable.

"Bout time!" he said and turned away, when we next saw him he was helping a human out of the small opening we'd managed to create.

Feeling the blood lust spike around us I hurriedly told Mac we needed a chopper back ASAP. Asking the ghoul who had helped the human out of the hole how many humans were in there. He frowned and said only five had made it.

I didn't ask how many there had been.

One by one we lifted the five surviving humans out and to my surprise they made it to the choppers without incident.

The surprising thirty-nine surviving ghouls made their way out of the hole next. They were none worse for wear.

Peter asked them what had happened. The initial ghoul we had seen, when we uncovered them, told us that the Sovereignty had come back raising all kinds of havoc. Screaming at each other, throwing shit around. Then they had heard the second round of rockets start to go off. The Sovereignty had fled into the door in the floor and didn't come back out. They had left the hatch open in the floor, he said, and ghouls had broken out of their holding pens and had followed them down. They had tried to free the humans who didn't have the same strength they did but not everyone was able to get into the underground tunnel and room below before this building was hit.

"You all fit down there?" Peter voiced what we were all wondering.

"There's a tunnel that opens into a huge room down there with a door we can't get through on the other side," he told us "We figured those robed guys somehow barricaded it 'cause we couldn't get through it. Maybe the explosions wedged it shut or somethin'. We'd just cleared the tunnel leading up here when we heard you guys comin down to us. You wouldn't believe how fuckin' happy we were to hear people up here."

"Al'right, we need a team," I barked, "Anyone able and willing to help open the door needs to follow us down. If anything comes out of there fightin' kill it."

Ivan, Peter, Izzy, Char and I headed down with a group following behind us. If this is the only way out, I thought, then whoever's behind that door doesn't stand a chance.

When we rounded the bottom of the tunnel it opened into a spacious room. Chairs, tables, two refrigerators, and couches spread out in various corners, now covered in the rock that the ghouls had moved to try to free themselves. Without speaking we approached the door at the far end.

Looking back at Izzy she blinked and stared at through the steal door in front of us.

Eleazar and Alistair crept forward through the quickly accumulating eager back up.

"At least two, but it's hard to tell they're piled together." Izzy finally said.

"Piled together?" Eleazar asked.

"Yeah, they've been dismembered." She avowed

"Then how are you sure how many there are?" He solicited.

She let out a frustrated sigh, "I counted arms and legs. Maybe they've been torn apart twice, but there are definitely two heads in the pile. I can't see a third, but I can't be sure." She huffed quirking a brow at him challenging him to doubt her further.

He smiled and nodded, "Just checking."

"No one else?" Alistair requested. I think he had a death wish. Anyone who looked at my mate knew she was on the edge. I stepped a little closer to her to glare at Alistair. We were all on edge.

"Nothing I can detect, that doesn't rule out Giants." balling her fists up. She was on a short fuse, "Maybe you'd like to go first?"

"Ok, Ok." He raised his hands and gave in.

"Ivan, Peter and I will knock the door down, you guys back us up." I told them.

"Why don't you just let me take care of it?" Izzy snarled.

"What?" Alistair asked.

"Move," her snappy attitude was getting harsher.

She looked fiercely at the door before closing her eyes. My head, as everyone else's went from her to the door and back.

"I forget she can do that, comes in handy opening a beer bottle," Ivan muttered jokingly as we watched the door begin to move.

Scraping metal ground through the air as it bubbled and warped, and we became transfixed on the sight of it. It pulsed and Izzy hissed, "Move."

We scattered back away from it as it gave, slamming into the wall as it opened.

Peter and I were at the door as it hit the rock wall.

The hallway opened up just slightly to a small room, directly in front of us stood another narrow hallway leading into blackness.

An escape route.

The only light filtering through the opening came from stairs behind us through the gaping hole above it. But it was enough. On the right side of the passageway, just as Izzy had said lay a pile of leaking vampire parts.

From the overpowering scents in the room I was willing to bet Liam, and Heidi.

They'd put up a good fight.

A decapitated Giant lay dead not six feet from them. Not good enough apparently for whoever had unleashed on them, but there was blood and venom on the walls that was not their own.

Peter and I made note of the room and made our way quickly to the other side and into the dark passageway. I felt Izzy and Char right behind us.

"Put those fuckers back together an' feed 'em. We'll be back to talk to 'em shortly," Peter instructed Eleazar and Alistair and I snickered at the look on their faces at being ordered about like 'common folk'.

Peter's impish emotions just made me smile wider when the two men did as he had told them to.

We shuffled our way through the narrow escape tunnel and at times had to duck and even crawl to keep going. The Giants blood on the floor and on the walls telling us there was at least a couple of them with the leftover Sovereignty. Some places we crawled through were just big enough to let a Giant pass.

The scents of Stephan, Isaak, Caius and Huilen clung to the walls, Isaak's venom most telling that he was part of the fight behind us.

Light came through the tunnel before us and we saw daylight finally. It felt like we'd been down here for at least thirty minutes chasing this winding tunnel into nowhere.

We were in another crawl space in the tunnel when Peter stood in front of me and stopped. I pushed on him and he moved enough I could stand. We had come to another wider space, maybe six by six and instead of forward it went straight up.

Izzy pushed on me and I moved to let her out.

She peered up as well, and then pushed me lifting her chin motioning me to go.

Peter took off first, me right on his ass. Izzy, Char and Ivan bringing up the rear as we scaled the thirty-foot drop. I hadn't even known Ivan was with us. I should have known it. Our group seemed to be stuck like glue together, especially now that we were missing two people. We felt their absence like a missing limb. It was an odd sensation. Going through the shit we had the past few days, the past few weeks, I'd grown incomprehensively close to these people. My mate was a given, but the rest of them had grown on me, and I hadn't been aware of just how much until we watched Nevell and Edward being lifted out of here in that chopper.

Peter popped out of the top and the rest of us right behind him crouching to attack anything that moved.

Nothing did.

We came out near the base of the mountain range that had to be fifty miles away from the stadium. The vampire scent trail went straight into the dense tree line right outside the escape hole.

They had climbed the mountain.

"I vote we go back. Chasing them could take fucking days, and for what?" Peter grumbled. There was no telling how far ahead they had gotten. The scent trail was at least an hour old if not longer. If the ghoul was right and the Sovereignty had escaped at the second round of rockets Isabella unleashed, that put them almost three hours ahead of us. Maybe four. You tend to lose time in battle.

"Whatever happened between them was done a couple hours ago or more. They didn't waste any time trying to escape. Probably when Vlad didn't make it to them when he was supposed to, I figure they started figuring shit out. It wasn't long after that that shit hit the fan." I assessed, "Maybe Liam finally cracked under the pressure and seeing how they left Heidi behind they know it was her Line and involvement that brought this down on their heads."

"Yeah," Peter grunted, "someone figured something out considering who's laying in that room back there. I wonder why they didn't kill 'em?" Peter drawled.

"Where's a match when you need it eh?" Ivan snarked.

"I wonder if that second explosion came from them?" Izzy pondered.

"If they got hit and were still in the building… maybe somehow they set off another explosion to make sure we found nothing. Although, that doesn't explain Christopher being seen running away above ground. It's kinda odd he ran south and in the same direction as their escape hatch comes out. That ghoul didn't say anything about seeing one of them come back."

"No shit, I bet he set off that second explosion to cover their tracks," Ivan growled.

"Why don't we go ask Liam and Heidi?" Peter said with his evil grin and hands rubbing together.

"Good fuckin' plan." I said, "Eh, Mac?"

"_Yeah,_" Mac's ever-present voice spoke.

"I know we got other more important shit going on, but maybe we could find a couple of people who could do some recon on this scent trail?"

"_They're already on the way. There should be two of Ben's team there in fifteen. Over." _The man could run the world.

"Did I tell you I was givin' you a raise?" Peter quipped the usual line I'd heard them tell him after every conflict we'd been in. It seemed like their post-requisite to say.

Mac laughed tiredly, "_A vacation would be nice when you guys get back. I'd like to take some hot girl somewhere and get some _**peace**_ from your needy asses, if you know what I mean_." Mac mused dreamily.

His double entendre wasn't lost on us.

It gave us all a good chuckle, "Oh, I know where you can go to," I told him, "I'll set it up for you. Do you like the sun? The peace and quiet? Ocean or mountains?"

There was a pause for moment and he finally said, "_Yeah, the sun is nice, mountains preferably._"

"Consider it done, my man, when we get the fuck outah here," I told him and smiled at the sound of his easier chuckle this time. I knew that had to be rough sitting halfway around the world not being able to get your hands dirty, but what he and his team did for us was far more important than what they could do for us if they were here. And Mac and Cheese knew it. It didn't make it less frustrating I'm sure. But without them, I had a feeling we would have all been dead a long time ago.

"Can you tell us anything," Izzy asked quietly and didn't have to reiterate what she was talking about.

"_He's going to be al'right_," Mac told us, _"Ben's got his best surgeon with him on the jet and they just started workin' on him. They said it was a clean break off. It's going to take some time to heal, but he'll be good as new soon enough_."

"Thanks, Mac," She sighed.

"_Welcome, boss_," Izzy gave an irritated sigh to which Mac just laughed.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**Um…. **

**Give me your lovely needed words! **

**Pretty please?**

**Was it everything you hoped it would be? More? Less? Just so so?**

**Next chap up soon. **

****Don't forget to add Monstress Outtakes to your fav lists… over the summer I will be adding to it. There seems to be enough interest that I'll do a sequel to Monstress… it won't start until the middle or end of September.**

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**Give me your wordy words!**

**;)**


	33. Chapter 33

A/N

**OH! Almost done. Feels weird. But knowing there will be a sequel kinda helps the let down.**

**Well my words were worked and reworked by the wondrous LetsJustDance and Bripearl my ever faithful and diligent Beta's. Without them I'd be floundering around out of control lost between this plane and the next.**

**WOW…. Reviews really blew my mind this time. THANK YOU. I'm so HAPPY that you guys all seemed to have liked the last three chapters. Don't go quite yet though… there's still more to come… not the intense fighting or anything, but there's so much left undone. Just so you won't be shocked… some of this won't be resolved until the next sequence of the story. You'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next few and see what's left to smash to bits.**

**Monstress and Major are right around the corner so hang on to the panties for a couple more chapters! You never know what will happen 'round here!**

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_**Previously;**_

"_Consider it done, my man, when we get the fuck outah here," I told him and smiled at the sound of his easier chuckle this time. I knew that had to be rough sitting halfway around the world not being able to get your hands dirty, but what he and his team did for us was far more important than what they could do for us if they were here. And Mac and Cheese knew it. It didn't make it less frustrating I'm sure. But without them, I had a feeling we would have all been dead a long time ago._

_"Can you tell us anything," Izzy asked quietly and didn't have to reiterate what she was talking about._

_"He's going to be al'right," Mac told us," Ben's got his best surgeon with him on the jet and they just started workin' on him. They said it was a clean break off. It's going to take some time to heal, but he'll be good as new soon enough."_

_"Thanks, Mac," She sighed._

"_Welcome, boss," Izzy gave an irritated sigh to which Mac just laughed._

**~AFTERMATH~**

**~Izzy POV~**

We made our way quickly over the fifty miles of barren tundra between mountain range and obliteration. As we got closer, the stench became stronger, clogging my nose and making me think that it would never come out. I would definitely never forget it, that was for sure. We watched the smoky horizon get closer and closer until we were once again on top of the damaged countryside.

Eleazar and Alistair had done as ordered by Peter and had put Heidi and Liam back together. They were working on it anyway. It would be hours if not days before the disassembled could speak. Whoever took them apart did a bang up job. It made me wonder again why they hadn't just lit them on fire. What they had done… the tiny pieces they had torn them into… would take a couple of hours just to fit back together in the right places. They were jigsaw puzzles. We left them to it, not before we all noticed the proud smirk on Peter's face as he watched them do exactly what he'd told them to. He was proud as punch at himself.

Alistair was bearing his own wounds. He'd gotten his pinky and right ring finger bitten off, and from my understanding, the Giant had swallowed it before Alistair had killed him. Ripping apart several Giants proved to be fruitless and at the end of the day, he decided that cauterizing the venomy stubs was the best go. Eleazar heated one of the knives like a red-hot poker and made quick work of Alistair's knuckles so it would quit leaking venom.

Emmett ended up doing the same thing to a softball size bite on his leg. He said a wolf took a chunk out of him. He hadn't been sure if it was friend or foe or just in the frenzy, and by the time he'd decided that it didn't matter and that the wolf had to come off either way, it had taken the chunk off his calf when it finally released him. Eleazar did his med skills on him, cauterizing the flesh to keep him from draining. Emmett was proud to have the war wound. Amazingly enough, he also drank human blood, from the bags, replenishing his body. Jasper asked him where Rose was. Emmett's answer 'she wasn't the boss and it was time he put on the pants in their relationship.' Rose had been horrified at his taking control of his life but 'she'd learn to deal with it', and he'd walked away to continue his helping. Jasper and I were stunned…proud, but stunned.

Ivan, the beast that he is, was littered in bite marks. His war paint smeared and indefinable amongst the blood and venom on his chest and arms and his hair, was a matted mess. He looked like a Scottish War God who'd walked to hell and back. He wouldn't let us get a closer look at him, waving us off and telling us to take care of those in need.

Peter and Charlotte didn't come away unscathed either. Peter had Eleazar work on him too. The top of his left ear was gone in a perfect bite sized shape. Char had bites and gashes that were healing slowly, but no missing parts.

We'd noticed that depending on what had gotten a hold of you, reflected on how fast you healed. Some of the venom of the preternatural was like poison to us and made us heal slower and left nasty scars. The shape changers and shapeshifters had been in such frenzies, changing from human form to their alternate form to fight, they couldn't control themselves. In beast form they went 'wild'. That was the explanation we got from Berg, seemingly the spokesman for the alligators. He also told us that there was a difference between shape changers and shapeshifters. He didn't elaborate further and told us to ask them. So what did that make him?

As far as I'd seen since I'd been here, none of them had changed form. Not that an alligator in a fight would be much good. A conversation for another day among the rest of the list we had questions for.

The shape shifters, or shape changers as some of them preferred, and I finally gave up trying to figure out which, were all back to human form. Those that could phase back, anyway. Some had a harder time changing amongst the ruins they lay in. Berg and his entourage helped drag them out to cleaner air. If they'd been hurt or lost a limb, it was harder for them to change back to human form. I was at a complete loss, having had taken such cases in the past back to the wolves of La Push. I didn't know the first thing about helping them.

I'd noticed before he left that Edward had been bitten and had a few deep gashes, but had been feeling pretty good considering. He'd been covered in funk and smelled foul, like we all did. I was happy that he'd gone with Nevell.

I pushed the thought of a shower away. What I wouldn't give to get the smell out.

We set to our tasks to help make sense of the butchery lying in need before us.

It was a slow process and soon a routine slipped into place. Separating the wounded, tending to the needs of many dismembered, looking for body parts, feeding those injured, setting bones, and loading choppers.

I tried to find some kind of peace in my mind, as I worked next to my mate, that the destruction before us was worth it in the end. I felt guilty wondering if it could have gone differently if I hadn't made that first rocket go off in the stadium while Jasper fought.

It seemed to have snowballed so quickly. But I thought of the reaction the fighters had had to Peter and the others' words that we were here to raise a coup. They'd stepped on board so quickly and their excitement had raised suspicion and fear immediately amongst the owners.

Their controlling hold over such a large number of beings in one place had been precarious at best if all it took was a group of strangers to tell their fighters they could be free…that there was another way. They grabbed the idea with such ferocity and climbed on board before we really even had a plan of action.

When I voiced my fears to Peter, he told me the fighters would have reacted the same way, when he approached them, whether I had set the rocket off or not. It had been inevitable. He said the fighters all told him the owners had been twitchy and on edge from the moment they got here. The fighters knew something was up, our actions just gave them all the more power and incentive to do what was already boiling under the surface.

The fighters who were able, all told stories from individual standpoints, saying they wouldn't have had it any other way and they'd do it all again in a heart beat. By the end of the day, my nerves and guilt disappeared.

In many ways, I concluded, my actions might have helped our cause. The explosion had set of a chain of events separating the good from the bad. It gave hope where there had been none. I clung to that.

It wasn't helping that Nevell was being put back together. I felt like a whiny uber bitch and I pushed all thoughts of my own hang-ups aside and tried not to be such a grouch. The man had once saved my life. He'd been my only confidant for many years until we met up with Peter and Char, but even then…Nevell and I had a special bond. He'd been there when no one else was. He'd stuck with me no matter what trouble I had given him. He was more than a brother, less than a lover, more than a best friend, he was FAMILY and I almost lost him. Sniveling about my own issues wasn't going to help him. He would have kicked my ass long ago and told me to get over it.

So I did.

**(+=)**

We talked and listened to everyone's point of view on what happened during those hours of fighting. Everyone had seen something different.

We were told that our building had been being locked down and if we hadn't moved when we did, we would have been blown to smithereens. The rocket I had intercepted was set to fire on us if anyone had left the front of the building and approached the stadium.

The owners had been corralled into the stadium for _safekeeping_. The Giants had herded them there on the orders of the Sovereignty before they sought shelter in the Security building. When the stadium started blowing, owners ran and tried to get through the Giant security detail. Some ran for the hills, others ran to get their fighters, not understanding what was going on. The Giants had chased them. We had taken them down one by one.

The Alligators had lost Rivet. They mourned and celebrated all in one breath. And everyone seemed to take their cue from them. Groups formed around us, helping us move the ones that would never see another day. Others helped find comrades in the chaos. The fighting zone had been huge. There was a lot of ground to cover.

We found Zorg. At first I thought he was dead and was amazed anything could have taken him down. I'd seem him during the fight in his beast form taking apart Giants with his sickle claws. When I'd knelt down next to him, he had stirred. We were able to get him to wake him up enough to feed him blood and check him over. There wasn't a scratch on him.

Jasper told me when Zorg had shifted shape back to human form in the arena, he'd watched as he healed at the same time. It appeared now the guy was sleeping it off. We took him to the perimeter of death and destruction and let him do just that.

**(=+)**

There was a buzz in the air.

One of freedom.

One of satisfaction.

It overshadowed the feelings of wariness at the question 'what now'?

Some of these people had never even known the word 'freedom' before. They'd been born in labs around the world and were far from aware of what real life could be like for them. The ones who had been stolen off the streets eased those fears by telling stories of what it would be like to walk in the daylight without fighting. What it would be like to not have to take drugs everyday. What it would feel like to not see men in lab coats coming to take their measurements or weigh them or tell them when to get up, go to sleep, when they could eat. They told them of a life without killing. They told them what it was like to be able to run free.

Anticipation, longing, exhilaration, and elation swept through camp slowly but surely. Hope swept through all of them. Question upon question upon question were asked and answered to the best of our abilities. I let the emotions of excitement, anticipation and _trust_, sweep through me, making me high. I was dumbfounded. These people had been to hell and back and still had enough spirit and free will to make what we were telling them a reality.

The Alligators were the first to voice their concerns. We introduced them to Eleazar, explaining where they were from, how they had helped us and their newfound homelessness.

We'd done this kind of placement before in the Labs, but never on this grand scale. Although many of the fighters hadn't made it, our tentative count was that 94 of the original 456 had perished. Some fighters reported seeing other fighters running away. I wasn't sure of actual body count but from what we could estimate, we had taken down 384 Giants that included the ones taken down by the choppers. I didn't say it out loud, but we were damn lucky. Those were fucking great numbers all things considered. I think I felt it even more so since everyone I loved came through the battle alive.

We could only estimate the mortality count for the owners and their guests. The deaths that we knew for sure, because they were still dressed in robes, numbered 167. By our figures this meant approximately 89% of them had gotten away.

The wounded were too many to count. No one walked away unscathed. Well except for Zorg it seemed.

But it didn't seem to matter. The price for freedom was paid.

Everyone listened as we told them what would happen from this point. We laid out the possibilities of what could happen along with what would be provided to make their life transition as easy as possible.

It seemed to rouse the spirits of those who had been left homeless and they finally felt hope because they weren't left out in the dark and abandoned in the middle of nowhere.

We explained to everyone what the real world was like and how the vampire hierarchy worked. They asked more questions on that topic and we answered them the best we could. We made sure they knew they wouldn't be going to any known participant of the Games.

Mac, Cheese and Sarah got on the phones and told our world what had happened and what our state of being was at the moment. Within hours, there were jets in the air around the globe headed for the airports nearest our location.

Sophia, the Power controlling middle Asia, was setting up a makeshift facility to take those in who couldn't medically make a long journey.

Yakini, the Power who controlled 99% of Africa, was doing the same.

They'd been aware since we found the Giant Island that something was going down. They weren't surprised at what we'd found here. Over the years, they had helped us out with resources more than once. They were good allies to have.

The airport we first landed in was full of owners' jets and other transportation. They were quickly sequestered and loaded. They were sent on their way to other airports for rendezvous with either our allies or taking people to their home countries. There were a lot of shape shifters who knew where they were from and wanted to go home to their families. Some had been taken decades ago.

One man, who I scented as shapeshifter but didn't ask what he shifted into, said he'd been taken 110 years ago. I couldn't believe that he'd had to fight all these years. He told me that sometimes when he'd lose a fight, he'd be taken by his new owner to be retrained for several years. Then they would bring him back to fight again. He was originally from India. He thanked us over and over again before getting on a chopper. From here he'd be taken to the airport and flown to Syria to meet Sophia. Sophia would reunite him with any family he still had living.

After he left, Ivan told me he'd watched that man turn into a white tiger.

Damn.

The ones born in labs were a little harder to organize. They really didn't have homes, much less countries. We offered to take some of the refugees, as we had over the years. Eleazar decided his family would take some. He said it might ease some tempers when they found out what he'd been up to. He hoped it might take their minds off their anger. I wasn't sure about that, but it wasn't my kettle of fish to boil.

In the end, the alligators chose to come back to Mexico with us. We would be stopping in New Orleans, on our way back, to drop off some folks. We needed to see our Shaman, Caleigh, anyway. Peter had been collecting ashes all afternoon when he could. We would help the alligators find family members when we were there, and then head on to Mexico.

Peter got a funny look on his face when we discussed our layover plans in the States.

"You and Jasper will go to see Caleigh," he stated.

"What? Why?" I'd asked. I was immediately suspicious. He'd always, always been the one to go. I hadn't ever met Caleigh. It was something Peter and Charlotte had enjoyed doing over the years. They'd known her long before I ever met them.

" 'Cause that's what's supposed to happen," he'd said and walked away.

Jasper and I looked at each other, just too mentally drained to argue. We shrugged our shoulders and said "Peter-Meter," at the same time. We laughed and moved on.

Edward had been able to get the names and locations of Labs and training facilities from the minds of the owners and other people he'd encountered. Questioning the people left here had given us even more. It was hard to communicate with some of them because they couldn't speak any language at all; however, those who could, no matter the dialect, were gently drilled for more information.

We knew it would be years, maybe even decades, before we could deal with them all. I was certain Christopher, Caius, Huilen, Isaak and Stephan were relocating their facilities even as we cleaned up. It would take time and that's one thing we had in abundance.

In no way were we naïve enough to believe they would stop. They might slow down for a few years, but we knew they would be back.

As I looked out over the expanse of living, breathing, talking, non-talking, and upright preternatural, I also knew it was only a matter of time before the human world knew about us. The precious few we'd found over the years who had escaped, couldn't be the _only_ ones who had escaped. Not to mention the ones who took off before or during the fight. They were long gone and tracking them down was pointless. They were now wandering around unattended.

Vampires weren't the only ones hiding from human society. If we knew hundreds there must be thousands of preternatural species spread around the world.

It was only a matter of time before the entire world knew. I couldn't believe they didn't already know.

**(=+)**

We discussed the ramifications of today's events with Eleazar and Alistair.

We had choices: One, we could track down and kill the remaining Sovereignty one by one; Two, we could call a _Power_ meeting hoping everyone would show up and unleash punishment then.

Getting them all together now would prove almost impossible. There was no way they would show up.

The ramifications of the first one could end badly for us. They had escaped and if we sought them out and killed them, we would have their loyal guards knocking on our door tomorrow. We had too many vampires doing just that right now in Mexico. We wouldn't stand a chance. If we did that, taking out Powers without going before the Power counsel, then we could get punished, equaling death. We would have to make it public and in front of witnesses. Not our first choice, and in the long run their benefactors would most likely come after us anyway.

At least with the second choice, positions of power would change hands publicly. Hopefully this would appease those that were disgruntled.

Alistair said knowing they were guilty was only half the battle. Catching them red handed then acting as mercenaries to take care of it ourselves, wasn't in our best interest.

So we sorta kinda voted unanimously that Alistair and Eleazar be the ones to call the Powers to order and demand an emergency meeting. Since it was their idea to show up here as a surprise, and because they were our best witnesses, we decided it was up to them to pull off the meeting. We realized that that was the best surprise ever.

So they called Volterra.

They talked to Aro and Marcus, who were the only ones in the dark at this point. At least we hadn't been the ones to call them to relate the events right after the fighting stopped, like we had the others.

Eleazar was here. Zafrina was well aware, as was Sophia, and Yakini. Eleazar and Alistair were no-brainers.

The rest? Well, Liam and Heidi were slowly knitting together on a jet. Christopher couldn't be contacted, of course, but messages were left to inform him of the new development and that he was expected to be at the meeting.

Stephan and Vladimir's people were also given a message that was a little different than Christopher's. His message contained the fact that we had Vladimir. It would be in Stephan's best interest to show up. They were told to bring Isaak.

Huilen wasn't a Power of course, and there was no way to get in touch with him. Sure we had phone numbers to known locations that he was likely to be, but there was little known about the man. Since he wasn't a Power, however, we could track him down and kill him.

The Powers were all told to be in Quebec in four days. It gave them time to get flights and prepare themselves for the meeting. Any one of the eight who did not show up would be dealt with swiftly, meaning death. No questions asked.

Char had asked why we didn't have the meeting here? Good question. Alistair said it would encourage Christopher and Stephan to show up if it wasn't here. It gave them neutral ground and incentive. We weren't so sure, but hey, we were peons in this world and we chose not to argue in the end.

It did give us time to organize better and gave those preternatural who wanted to attend, time to heal.

No rest for the wicked.

There were plenty of jets and air transportation out of here. We spent the rest of the day loading the choppers with our transports.

Liam had a Lab in Quebec, technically territory once 'owned and governed' by Eleazar and given to Liam. When Eleazar found this out, he was fit to be tied. It took Jasper ten minutes to get him calmed down with his mojo. That's why they chose Quebec for the meeting instead of somewhere else. The Lab would get a surprise of huge proportions when we all showed up. I had a feeling Liam's days were numbered.

God help them all.

Eleazar had a lot to answer to Carmen for because it seems he had snuck away from his mate and picked up Alistair on the way here. Then he met up with Benjamin outside the perimeter the Giants had set.

She was so not happy. She was livid. When he finally broke down and called her, we overheard her threaten, more than once, to cut his balls up into tiny pieces and feed them to him piece by venomy piece. Hearing that Eleazar, Jasper, Peter, Ivan and even Alistair all covered their groins grimacing, and hissing.

I think I fell a little more in like with the woman then.

Eleazar spoke to us about our wolves, not forgotten in the chaos. Irina was going to have to be dealt with eventually and none of us wanted one more thing for which we had to watch our backs. We knew even if Eleazar didn't tell her, she would find out eventually. It was inevitable. We'd rather see her coming than be blindsided. Eleazar agreed with that, and we decided to tell her when we were there. They would be meeting us in Quebec.

I called Jacob and updated him on the whole mess. They needed to be on guard. We'd sent extra people there already, but when I asked if they needed more, he scoffed at me and told me to stop babying everyone. Hmph.

If he'd gone through what we'd gone through in the last few days… I had sighed dramatically and let it go.

**(+=)**

It took thirty-three hours to clean the place up and get everyone a new home to go to.

The wounded and ones who needed more time to heal, all left before the rest of us. Zafrina gave sanctuary to quite a few since she was already set up for this kind of thing. But there was only so much room down there.

We carried the remains of the fallen to the hot coals and soon they were ablaze again. Eleazar spoke words to the Gods for the loss and we stayed until the embers were little more than glowing nuggets. We helped Peter gather what we could of the ashes.

Our bodies weighted down by our cargo, we took to the air.

Ben's team had come in collecting weaponry and for all-intense and purposes, the area had been stripped of anything useful.

As we flew away, we watched two of the Apache choppers make what was left of the stadium, Security building and preternatural building into a thing of memories. Mac told us they had found two more stadiums, again thanks to Edward's mind-reading skills, and Ben had dispatched people to take care of them, too. They wouldn't be seeing any more action besides the incoming bombers to take them out.

We made the long journey to Quebec with the Alligators, Zorg, Eleazar, Alistair, Liam, Heidi and Vladimir in tow.

At the airport it was obvious we wouldn't all fit in Liam's tiny jet, so we had traded up, taking Christopher's elaborate jet. We left a note on Liam's, just in case, telling Christopher where to find his. That should piss him off right finely.

Nevell had been given some good drugs…morphine in huge doses. Ben's surgeon had given Edward instructions on how to administer them and when and left him to it. His leg was going to be ok. So was the rest of him. He'd sustained nasty gashes and bites down his left side. His leg however, was the worst by far.

Nevell told us how he'd been separated from us and he thought maybe he'd been knocked unconscious somehow and that's why he hadn't yelled for help. Two Giants had jumped him while he was slashing into one already. He didn't remember much of it until he came to and pulled himself up against the wall where we had found him. He'd been disoriented with pain and blood loss, it had taken everything he had just to tie the tourniquet on his leg.

We took turns in the showers until the water ran out. I chose not to. Why take a shower when we had no clean clothes with us to put on? No way. I sat in my funk.

I knew we'd have only a day and a half left to wait for the others to show up in Quebec once we hit ground. It was oh so tempting to just take off when we hit ground again and go home to our abandoned Fortress and my waterfall. We didn't have time to do it and it wasn't something that was prudent anyway. Eleazar called ahead and got us hotel rooms. He was also making phone calls to find a place where we could all meet up. He knew of a place that would work better than being out in the woods.

He finally talked to the right people and paid an enormous amount of money to have an amphitheatre be at our disposal. It was on the outskirts of some town that he and Carmen had been to a few years ago, for some big name Opera guy. He said it would be perfect. At this point, I really didn't care.

We got Emmett to tell us what happened between him and Rose. Well somewhat. He said it was about time for him to wear the pants for a while. Rose was shook up still and it was his duty as her mate to take care of business. You couldn't tell him any different that Rose should have told him long before it all came out like it did. He was angry with that and explained that he took partial blame to not have paid more attention. He said that he got Kate to agree to 'zap' Rose if she tried to get away while he 'took care of business'. Poor Rose.

Mac was in the process of sending our troops there for protection and crowd control. I knew after this was said and done, that a little R&R was needed for everyone. The past month had been nothing but one adventure after another and our people were tired mentally, if not physically.

Listening to the chatter snug in Jasper's lap, I went over the events in my head. Edward's tell-all when he'd probed the minds of the Sovereignty on first meeting them, was bothering me. It rolled around in my head until I formed a question that seemed to be the point of my irritation.

Without opening my eyes I asked, "How did Vladimir know Carlisle? Didn't you say, Edward, that he kept tabs on Carlisle?" I sat up, "how did he know him?"  
"I can answer that better than Edward can," Alistair interrupted Edward's reply.

"Do share," Peter waved a hand encouragingly.

"Do you know how Carlisle was changed?" Alistair asked.

Edward answered him, "Not until recently, he confessed he was changed by his own father."

"Yes. That's true. But did he tell you who changed his father?"

"I betchya you're goin' to tell us," Peter smiled.

Alistair smirked and nodded.

"I don't know if you know, but I used to rule Volterra, many millennia ago. I was a co-ruler with Vladimir and Stephan," We hadn't known that, "They ruled Russia and I was their liaison to Europe. I wasn't a Power, but it was as close as one could get. I lived in Volterra with my own guard and felt it was mine from the moment I set foot there. I built the castle that still stands there today. Aro and his brothers… have always been… _greedy_. They found themselves wanting power and banned together a group to take me out. They targeted me because at the time they weren't powerful enough to take Russia. I was a weak spot. So, they chose me."

"When the fighting was done, Vladimir and Stephan had no choice but to relinquish control over Europe to them, leaving me high and dry with nowhere to go. I was angry, as you can imagine. Vladimir and I had been close comrades over the years and I sought his counsel. I wanted Europe back. I made a deal with them to build an army against Aro and his brothers. Europe was won and lost more than once over the centuries. Aro always found a way to take it back from my hands. It became my obsession in my eternity.

"The last time Vladimir and I tried to take it back, we lost. By then, Aro and his brothers had gained Jane and Alec. We were defeated easily. At the same time that we did this, there were rumors of an uprising by the humans. One man by the name of Deakin was leading the church and increasing his following against the devils, the _vampires_, of the time. Aro came up with a plan to take out both his problems at once. He starved Vladimir and I until we were so filled with bloodlust we knew nothing but our hunger. He banded together a group of vampires and had us taken into Deakin's territory and thrown into the sewer systems. Aro figured when we smelled humans, that we would attack, either we would kill Deakin's followers or they would somehow kill us. Starved as I was, I was not above taking anything that had a heartbeat. I fed on the rats. Black plague did not harm us and the blood nourished me well enough that I gained a semblance of my self. Vladimir did not.

"Vladimir was first to break from the sewers into the night. He attacked the humans led by the old pastor when they came close to our hiding place. The rioters had torches and attacked Vladimir as he feasted on one of them and before he could finish his meal, he ran. I followed and watched the rioters take the old pastors body that was withering and screaming away to a house. I was more careful when I took my prey down, and killed them one by one.

"I didn't trail behind Vladimir this time when he went home to Russia. I found a hole in the earth and sulked. Vladimir found me some years later when he was out looking for Carlisle. I hadn't known at the time that's who he was looking for, but he told me the story of going back to look for Deakin six months after biting him because he knew he hadn't killed him that day in the streets. He had found Deakin's son instead and when he found out that Carlisle had killed Deakin, he started keeping tabs on him after they met. Technically Carlisle would be under Vladimir's charge seeing as how Vladimir had changed Deakin. When Vladimir found out that Carlisle was a bit of a brain and liked to study medicine, he saw potential in his other endeavors. Carlisle was looking for a cure for himself and Vladimir used that to his advantage to convince him that he could help him.

"I'm sure you know of Vladimir's 'other' endeavors of which I speak. Stephan had found ghouls centuries prior to all this and had been trying to recreate and make hybrids out of them for years. Which they had, but they didn't stop there. Stephan had a passion for finding the obscure and reforming it to benefit himself. Caius meantime, had found the Gladiators and the rivalry was well underway between them. Vladimir saw potential in Carlisle and devised a new plan. He met with Carlisle but didn't tell him who exactly he was, but did tell him of a whole new world he could put at Carlisle's fingertips if Carlisle agreed to work for him…with him.

"Long story short, Vladimir sent Carlisle into Volterra as a spy.

The brother's took Carlisle in with no questions. They were very curious about him and his diet. Caius, learning that Carlisle was proficient in medicine, sent him to work with Huilen in the Volturi's labs, unknowing that he was playing right into Vlad's plans. Vlad would meet secretly and often with Carlisle. Carlisle would share with him what he had learned. One day, Carlisle did not come to a secret meeting. That's when Vladimir went a little nuts and tracked me down, telling me what had happened over the years since I'd last seem him in that sewer.

Alistair sighed heavily like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, "I was never into what Vladimir and his brother were doing. I didn't see the point in it. I was too set on revenge and taking back Volterra to care. When it became evident that I would not help Vladimir to find Carlisle, we parted ways, and not kindly. He felt that I owed him for the centuries he'd helped me in my attempted conquests of Europe. I, however, disagreed vehemently. He was the one who had given it to them so easily. His reasoning to get Carlisle back was beyond my caring.

"By that time I had already been an '_honorary_' Power for some time. The last attempt to take Volterra back, I swore to myself was my last. I told Vladimir as much," He sighed again and turned his eyes to the window of the jet, leaving a dazed group of vampires to chomp on this new information.

We sat stunned.

Eleazar included.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

"Aro and Marcus just landed," Jasper said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. I had been staring out the window of the hotel room. We were on the 17th floor and had a good view of the darkening city below.

I nodded, choosing not to break the peaceful silence that lay around us. Silent as it could get for a vampire anyway. It was nice to hear the murmuring of normal human chatter going on around us. It was nice to know some things in the world hadn't changed.

Our team, that Mac had dispatched, met us at the airport hours ago with clothes. Not our clothes, but clean clothes nonetheless. I was a happy camper. I hadn't even looked in the mirror before shredding Jasper's and my soiled clothing and stepping into the shower, pulling him with me under the spray. Dried blood, venom, dirt, sand, grass and other nasty stuff had swirled down the drain and was long gone, but not forgotten.

He'd painstakingly taken out my snake braids so I could wash my hair.

I wanted to just go home.

I leaned back into Jasper's arms, closing my eyes to the world and had to smile.

We had done it. We had stopped the Games…at least for a little while. It seemed to be finally settling into my bones the realization of everything that happened this past week.

We had our work cut out for us in the future, but for now… the biggest dent we could have walloped on them, we'd delivered with gusto. I was proud as punch for that accomplishment. We had walked away… not unscathed, but we had walked away alive, nonetheless.

Jasper's fingers grazed down my sides over the hotel robe and his hips pressed to my ass gently, bringing my mind crashing back into the present. Shower time had been spent cleaning and inspecting each other, licking our wounds, holding on to each other and thanking Goddess that both of us were intact and alive.

His new focus now evident against me as I tilted my head back, finding his lips already there. His tongue caressing mine as his hands found the front of the hotel robe and pulled the tie, the robe fell open and his fingers instantly sought my skin.

My hands found his hair and I tugged on him, dragging him closer, harder, against me. He felt so good.

My body lit from within, pushed back against him as his fingers ran small intricate patterns on my flesh just below my navel. The moan leaving my mouth was wanton as he dragged his carcass downward.

"Please," the murmur left my lips in a ragged whispered plea.

Pulling me around to face him, my robe slid down my body and my flesh found his as realization dawned, he was buck-naked.

Fuck yes. My favorite Jasper attire.

Our hands became frantic in need as we explored each other's bodies. My fingers wrapped around his length and his fingers slipped though the slickness between my legs.

The energy between us escalated into a heated frenzy. I found myself up against the glass, looking at the twinkling lights below as Jasper rammed himself into me. I was dripping for him.

Our moans became growls and hisses, our skin slapped as he filled me over and over.

"More," moaning for him made his hips move faster and harder as he admired my body repeatedly, transforming our lust into something animalistic. He grunted with each of his thrusts against my shoulder blade while his fingers sank into my hips.

His arms snaked up my abdomen and over my ribs to my breast and he anchored his body to mine with the pressure of his hands.

He pounded and thrust deep inside me until I was keening out of control.

"Mine, mine, mine." chanted from his lips set me tingling and dancing on the edge of bliss. I needed to take him with me when I fell and I knew just the thing to accomplish it. I let my forehead rest against the glass and with one hand I reached between us grabbing his balls, the other found my slick clit.

Jasper's feral snarl encouraged my fingers and I slid them down his slickened tightened wrinkled skin to place my index finger on the soft area right before his pucker. I pinched my clit, and added pressure to my fingers around him and to that sensitive spot on him. I clenching my pussy as I squeezed my eyes shut, falling into the kaleidoscope of colors as I came. Jasper's body stiffened and jerked and the pulling grip on my breasts sealed my body around his as he fell with me. He gave me his seed as I soaked our bodies with my juices.

The windows shook with our combined feral screams.

My body shook and panted with the force of it. I heard myself whimper and a guttural moan came from Jasper, making my body vibrate in satisfaction.

"I wasn't done with you," He whispered hoarsely.

I let out a deep quiet chuckle, "You're the one who told me you didn't need recouping time."

My snark found me under Jasper on the bed as he held me down, "That I did." And he slammed himself into my wet flesh.

I hissed a few expletives and he showed me just what those expletives really meant for the next several hours.

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

The knock on the door was followed by Nevell's voice "If you guys are done, we need to go."

The surprise at hearing his voice almost knocked me on my ass.

Pulling on clothes I flung open the door to find a grinning, worn out Nevell. The smile that split my face must have looked a little deranged considering Nevell's wince when he saw it. I didn't care.

I grabbed him and hugged him. Too late, I felt his body stiffen under my enthusiasm. Pulling back I looked him over.

"How are you up and around?" I scolded him.

"Well, I'm sore that's for bloody sure. I won't be going out fightin' anytime soon, or dancin' for that matter. But I'm healin'. The Docs all say I'm not going to suffer any long term shit." He grinned at us.

"How many Docs have you seen?" I couldn't keep the alarm out of my voice.

"Christ woman, calm down…only three. Two before we even left Russia, and then one here…not including Edward having to take a look," he scowled at me. His aversion to doctors was worse than mine. I couldn't blame him, considering where he came from.

Jasper had dressed a little slower than I had and had come up to wrap his arms around me, "It's good to see ya up an' around, man," I could hear the sincerity in Jasper's voice and Nevell caught it too, because his grin grew to a smile.

"Thanks, mate. Come on ya two lovebirds, we gotta get goin'." He turned and limped down the hall without waiting.

Jasper grabbed the key card for our room and we chased after him. His limp wasn't too bad, considering he'd had to have his leg put back on only a few days ago. Dhampirs didn't heal as fast as vamps did, but they were a lot faster than normal. That he was up and around was simply phenomenal. But that was Nevell for ya.

We took huge SUV's to the amphitheater to find that mostly everyone was here.

The seats were filled with preternatural and the stage was occupied by staring, stunned, Powers. Sophia, Yakini, Zafrina, Aro, Marcus, Eleazar, Alistair, Liam, Heidi, Isaak, Vladimir – who we'd decided to put together on the jet – and Stephan all looked back at the nearly full theater with uneasy expressions.

Peter, Char, Ivan, Edward, and Benjamin, all sat in the first row of seating on the right. Nevell, Jasper and I made our way down the stairs to join them. Along the way, we stopped and chatted when a few people stopped us to thank us.

Fifteen minutes later, we plopped our asses down finally with our gang.

Directly behind us sat the alligators - Berg, Sherman, Savoi, and Vincent. Zorg was sitting with them.

To the left of us and twenty blank seats down sat Kate, Garret, Irina, Tanya, Rose, Emmett and Carmen. Behind them Siobhan and Maggie sat by themselves. Both of them were looking a little green.

Both groups alternated, staring daggers at Liam and Eleazar. It didn't look like Eleazar had filled them in too much about what had happened. Or maybe he had. Liam didn't look like he'd spoken to anyone. They didn't seem too happy, whatever the case.

No Christopher. I wasn't surprised. There wasn't even a representative from Australia here for him.

No Caius either. Or Huilen, of course, I thought to myself.

Aro's fleet of guards was outside, except Renata, his personal bodyguard. Renata stood directly behind him. Jane and Alec were certainly nearby. How important did he think himself to be? Everyone else had brought a member of their personal counsel, but no one had brought that many to protect themselves. Maybe Aro was so well aware of the hate he provoked in others, that he needed that many. Self-appointed King of the Cock. What an ass.

I watched his face when he thought no one was looking and his eyes would twitch to Edward and then away just as quickly. I looked at Edward who was snickering to himself as he stared down Aro.

I nudged Jasper and gave a head tip to Edward and raised my hand as if to say 'what gives?'

Jasper leaned into me and his voice vibrated in my ear, "He's mighty smug."

I got Edward's attention and asked what the hell.

He leaned over and stage whispered, "He didn't know I was alive. Last he heard, the Cullens were destroyed."

I laughed. Oh shit, that's right. The rest obviously having heard laughed, too, much to Eleazar's chagrin. I wondered if that's why he showed up here. We had all been surprised that he had.

Chairs had been placed across the stage in a semi-circle and when we had entered, Eleazar had waved at us with a shit-eating grin and then turned back to the Powers he'd been chatting up.

You could feel the old 'power' coming off the stage. To be in the presence of such history was humbling – no matter who some of them were. It would have been a little intimidating if it had been different circumstances. Right now, all I could muster to feel was anger.

"Please, take a seat so we may begin," Eleazar's voice echoed through the amphitheater.

Tentatively the Powers all began sitting in their chairs, shuffling around until they were satisfied that they were sitting where it would best benefit them. Liam and Vladimir sat vampire still in center stage. From my understanding, both had refused to speak.

Heidi and Isaak sat separately and off to the side. Not being a Power put them out of the semi-circle, making it clear who was who. But they were on stage as a crucial attraction.

Eleazar moved to stand to the side so he could address both the audience and his fellow governing bodies.

"You should all know by now why you were brought here today. Just so none of you are left in doubt, I will lay it before you and we will all be on the same page. God forbid, there be a lack of communication," He said a little bitterly. He was sore that he was the last to know. I didn't blame him.

Eleazar began telling everyone how we all came to be here today. It was a story I'd heard far too often and I tuned him out.

I knew Eleazar felt somewhat responsible for not knowing the extent of the pastime that some of the Powers liked to partake in. Sophia and Yakini felt the same way.

Sophia knew, but Yakini had been mostly in the dark. Then there was Zafrina. She wouldn't admit she hadn't known even if you'd have cattle prodded her. But she wouldn't say she did know either, because truth was she didn't until we brought it to her attention. Same with Yakini. I really did feel bad that Eleazar was the last to know. Not enough to apologize, mind you. It still stunned me a little that he didn't. I think deep down somehow, they all had known _something_ was going on. You wouldn't convince me they didn't. But they didn't think it touched them personally, so they'd turned a blind eye. Out of sight out of mind.

I truly hoped and believed that if any of them had… they would have done something about it long ago. They wouldn't have let so many suffer for so long. By the looks of Eleazar's coven as Eleazar told them what had been going on over the centuries leading up to a few days ago, they weren't about to let anyone know either way if they had or hadn't.

I watched Irina shift ever so slightly. She was uneasy. If I hadn't been watching, I wouldn't have seen the tick in her right eye go off a couple of times. I wondered if that was natural or if she was reacting to what Eleazar was saying. I'd have to keep an eye on that one.

It kinda made sense really, if Eleazar's coven hadn't known. They thrived on animal blood, setting themselves separate from their own race and outcasting themselves to live a different way of life. The vampire world looked at them as somewhat freaks of our society. The goody-too-shoes of our time. They inadvertently shut themselves off from information they should have been privileged to. They lived in their own little world.

Zafrina lived in the jungles of South America and knew about Huilen, but since her creator had died, she'd cut the communication lines to the outside world and withdrew her people from adventuring too far from home. Someone had killed her Sire and South America's Power, it had scared them and they'd locked themselves behind thick metaphorical walls, shunning the rest of the world. They didn't like strangers and Zafrina's defenses were hard to break through. The only reason we'd been let into those walls she'd constructed around her was because we had a common enemy: Huilen.

Yakini lived in Africa and it was well known that vampires there only came out at night. Vast empty land spread out for them so they could avoid most anyone. Things were run completely different there because of the hours they kept. Out of the way places and much uncharted land that could hide such things, were abundant there. Vampires tended to stick to one area and never venture too far out. There was a lot of history, fables, and superstitions that tended to shelter them a little more than the rest of the vampire world.

Sophia, on the other hand, had been helping Benjamin for years. I didn't know her well, but Ben did and he had said the only reason she hadn't done anything was because she hadn't known who to turn to. Her territory sat up against Europe and Asia. The Volturi and the Russians. Then, of course, there was Christopher to the south of her. She knew all three were involved and didn't know who to trust. She was one Power against the other seven. It wasn't like any of them talked to each other. I knew her territory housed a lot of ghouls that had escaped from Russia. To ensure their safety, she'd kept her mouth shut and done what she could from her position. I didn't blame her.

Communication is key. If they'd been communicating instead of fighting about territory or guarding territory, they might have figured this shit out before it was too late. Then again…

Eleazar wove the tale, hitting all the finer notes and details pertaining to the here and now. He included and wrapped around our groups involvement in it all.

There were often growls and mutterings throughout the amphitheater but none of Eleazar's words were forsaken or challenged. Everyone listened as he spoke of the horrors and the activities of those accused. He really was a captivating presence.

I wondered how we had missed so much. How we had missed the disappearance of those involved at the same time for days at a time, year after year.

The truth was that we hadn't. Not all the way anyway. We knew they disappeared, but we didn't know where to. They were careful. Only a few knew where the next games were happening which gave us little to go on. They'd be in our sights one minute and gone the next, only to reappear the same way. It was never at the same time of year and never vocalized through means of human technology. Meaning no phones, emails, telegrams or Morse code was used. It had been done by word of mouth at precise given times and the system by however means, had duped us. Until we found the Giant Island and brought Eleazar into the mix. His knowing Liam and having power over him brought it all tumbling down on its head.

It's a 'who you know' world.

Eleazar re-told of how we came about information and how we had infiltrated the Games. How we had fought and how he had come to be there with Alistair. He told them how we had found Heidi and Liam under the rubble and why Vladimir had been torn apart and then put back together.

When he was done, you could have heard a pin drop.

Eleazar stood stoically, waiting for the explosion.

And it came.

Everyone's voices erupted at once.

"Quiet," Eleazar yelled after a few minutes of arguing and yelling. When his audience subsided into a dull roar he went on, "The question is not 'Are these among us guilty', but what we are going to do about the guilty parties."

This time the murmur didn't rise as high, but speculations and suggestions floated around the theater.

"I think we should hear from the guilty parties, then we can establish penalties as seen fit," Aro proclaimed.

"For what reason?" Alistair asked him, "What would that accomplish, if anything? We are not talking _questions_ of guilt that have been established in spades. We are here to decide what is the _punishment_ for said crimes. Penalties? The only _penalties_ will be death."

"Death." Someone called out behind us and it led the theater to chant the sentence until Eleazar raised his hand for silence.

"Non guilty parties should vote," Tanya suggested.

"Our infrastructure has been compromised, voting would not solve anything," Sophia voiced in a thick Middle Eastern accent.

"To some degree we are all guilty. Who is left to vote?" Aro was quick to lump everyone together.

"Sophia, Yakini, Eleazar, Zafrina and myself." Alistair spoke quickly, forming the invisible line in the sand. Good vs. Evil. Innocent vs. Guilty.

"But you were at the Games." Aro declared rather indignantly, "You finagled your way into it with your own players!"

"As decoys and spies," Eleazar reminded him, "Nothing more. No bets were laid on our behalf, we did not benefit from being there beyond information and bringing justice."

"I will find the information for us all and we will decide wha-" Aro said, stepping forward with his hand raised to Liam.

"NO. You are not listening Aro," Alistair barked and stepped forward, blocking Aro's outstretched hand, "There is no way you did not know that this was going on. Just because you were not there and part of the Sovereignty does not mean you are not guilty of the crimes committed here. You are not getting information from anyone! As I have said before, it is not a matter of guilt; it is a matter of punishment!"

"I think this is all ridiculous. You cannot deny me the information my own people have. It is my right-" Aro said.

"You have no rights to the information," Eleazar spit, "Liam is not _your _people anyway. It is your organization that has serious holes in its workings, that you have let this slip by you. You are just as much to blame as they are for doing _nothing_. You knew that Alice was in my territory. You knew that Carlisle lived in the United States and yet nothing was ever told to me. You, Aro, are just as guilty of crimes here as your lackey's are. And where is Caius, Aro? Will you tell me that?" Eleazar had stepped forward and was spraying venom as he spoke into Aro's face by the time he was done talking. Aro took a step back from the tyrant in front of him and Renata stepped forward to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"I have not seen Caius-" Again Aro's words were snipped. This time by two individuals.

Maggie and Edward both spoke at once, "Liar!" You can't really get anything by a truth detector and a mind reader.

Aro looked ashen as his head snapped to look at Edward.

Edward stood at the same time requesting, "If I may speak."

"You may," Eleazar encouraged at the same time that Aro said 'No'.

"You will let him speak. _We_ will let him speak." Eleazar motioned his hand for Edward to continue.

"They left Caius back home fully guarded. He's known all along what Heidi was up to as well as Caius. His main goal here today is to see what Heidi has told us and to what extent. His need is purely one of selfishness. He'd like to know how much we know of his own guilt and how it will play out, for him."

"Interesting," Eleazar steadied his gaze on Aro and watched as Aro tried not to twitch. "And what is that he knows?"

"Basically everything. Carlisle has been feeding him information for years. As has Alice and Heidi. When the Games would be under way, Carlisle would call Aro and let him know pertinent information. He knew it all. Alice, Heidi, Caius, Vlad… the others. All of them. He's also had spies in the other's camps."

"You sonofabitch!" Vladimir spoke for the first time, but Eleazar cut him off as his voice rose.

"Why am I not surprised? His plans?" Eleazar's cold voice was misleading, it was _too_ calm, and his scrutinizing gaze never left Aro.

Edward delivered a slew of information just as calm and exact as the last, "Aro's been keeping track. He had two owners himself separately and without knowledge of anyone else. At least, to his knowledge. They gave him information he couldn't get from Alice, who he never got to touch. He worked under Alice's radar, knowing how to get around her visions. Heidi's mind told him how. Aro's decisions and maneuvering his pieces came when Alice was otherwise occupied. He knew she was more vulnerable when she was feeding on animal blood and closest to the next time the Games came. He played her like a fiddle.

"He was always one step ahead of everyone. Waiting for the next attack from Alistair, biding his time when Heidi and Alice set forth their plan to take over Eleazar's territory. He had plans in place to help them and convince them that it would beneficial to them, with his knowledge, to rule together. He was prepared to split the territories between them and give them what they wanted as long as they left Europe and Asia to him-"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!" Aro screamed.

Heidi looked straight ahead at the far wall and said nothing. Her fear mixing with Aro's and Vladimir's fueling the fire that seemingly was growing and intensifying with each revelation. They wanted blood. They wanted justice and they were getting restless to get it.

Our sections stood. I felt the alligators and Zorg stand behind us. The shapeshifters and changers stood behind them.

"It is untrue! He is making it up! Lies! All of it! We are not here about me!"" Aro paced back further from the intensifying crowd.

"It is truth as your mind has told it, Aro. I have spoken nothing but the truth." Edward concluded.

"Truth," Maggie confirmed.

"Who is to believe… you don't… I am not going to stand here and let you tell lies about me!" Aro cried out.

"He didn't know about Isabella. He didn't know about Jasper. His not being able to touch Alice or Maria left him in the dark as to their existence. Carlisle left out some details in the information he fed to him it seems…." He paused, squinting his eyes at a horrified Aro, "He didn't know a lot of what was going on, hence the reason he broadened his scope over the years and started coming up with his own agendas. He knew that Alice only gave Heidi so much information and he wanted to know more."

"This is not about me!" Aro tried again. It was too late in spite of his words, I felt the heat of the anger rolling off in waves from the attendees listening, pressing its weight on our backs as they pushed forward in anticipation. The more revealed and the more Aro denied, the more their anger rose. "I came here today in good faith-"

"Good faith that we can trust your word and hide your brother and lackey's from us? Your involvement in all of this seems to be much larger than any of us suspected. You have ruled a long time unchecked Aro. Your gift gives a certain responsibility. Wouldn't you agree?" Eleazar's voice shook indignantly, "You have sat on your self-appointed pedestal that you have build yourself, and played games with your greed over a millennia. You may not have been directly involved by attending these events, but you contributed to them in your own way. In typical Aro way."

By the look Aro gave our group, specifically Edward -who he hadn't expected to be here or even alive – was wrath personified. You could tell that he would like nothing more than to end Edward's life along with the rest of us, the first chance he got. He'd come here thinking he could get away with all of it. He could possibly save Caius's life. Maybe even Heidi's. Save his kingdom. His reign. And it was tumbling down around his feet.

"He has worked with Christopher as well. They have Labs together -" No sooner were the words out of Edward's mouth, then there was a roar behind us.

Zorg hurdled over us.

In mid-flight his body contorted, shuddered and convulsed. By the time he hit the stage seconds later, he was Wolf-Beast. I thought maybe the first time in battle it had been a fluke. Maybe left over drugs and blood frenzy.

I was wrong. He could change when he wanted to. Maybe he'd just never had a reason before to do it on his own. I couldn't imagine a better reason than now.

His leap landed him in the middle of the stage as the occupants scattered, but Aro was too slow. Aro, thinking that Renata could save him, had merely sidestepped as she stepped forward.

Wolf-Beast's hands, his sickle claws menacingly aimed, wrapped around Aro's straining neck. Aro's eyes widening comically as Zorg twisted and popped Aro's head right off. Rentata looked on in horror that her powers had no affect on Zorg whatsoever. She'd let her master be attacked and her scream was high shrilled and filled with terror.

The smell of venom filled the air and Wolf-Beast's war cry resounded throughout the theater and made several of the shifters in their seats turn fuzzy.

I'd heard that that could happen. Jacob had explained to me once that a shifter could smell emotions. If Zorg's emotions were angry, vengeful and fueled with bloodlust enough, it could set off other creatures like him. In theory, Jacob had told me that about his wolves. I think the principle could be applied to more than just the Quileutes.

The theater erupted in chaos and venom spilled into the air.

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=)**

**A/N**

**I suppose you can say… if I'm going to change a story… I go full out.**

**What do your words have for me this time?**

**Good, bad…. Holding your breath a little?**

**Let me have 'em!**

**;)**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N**

**Thank you for all your wordy words you guys throw my way! Love 'em!**

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**I hit 800 reviews! *Does HApPy DAncE***

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_**Previously;**_

"_He has worked with Christopher as well. They have Labs together -" No sooner were the words out of Edward's mouth there was a roar behind us._

_Zorg hurdled over us. _

_In mid flight his body contorted shuddered and convulsed. By the time he hit the stage a seconds later he was Wolf-Beast. I thought maybe the first time in battle it had been a fluke. Maybe left over drugs and blood frenzy._

_I was wrong. He could change when he wanted to. Maybe he'd just never had a reason before to do it on his own._

_His leap landed him in the middle of the stage as the occupants scattered, but Aro was too slow. Aro thinking Rentata could save him, he'd merely sidestepped as she stepped forward. _

_Wolf-Beast's hands, his sickle claws menacing aimed, wrapped around Aro's straining neck. Aro's eyes widening comically as Zorg twisted and popped Aro's head right off. Rentata looked on in horror that her powers had no affect on Zorg whatsoever. She'd let her master be attacked._

_The smell of venom filled the air and the Beasts war cry resounded the theater and made several of the shifters in their seats turn fuzzy. _

_I'd heard that could happen. Jacob had explained to me once that a shifter could smell emotions. If Zorg's emotions were angry, vengeful and fueled with bloodlust enough, it could set off other creatures like him. In theory, Jacob had told me that about his wolves. I think the principle could be applied to more than just the Quileutes. _

_The theater erupted in chaos and venom spilled into the air._

**~PUNISHMENT ~**

**~Jasper POV~**

Assembling into the theater with this much animosity was a bomb with a lit fuse. I could feel the uneasiness of the Powers on the stage as they sat, faced with their accusers. It wasn't like the Powers could deny what had happened. Every one of them, with the exception of Aro, wasn't going to deny it.

Heidi, Liam and Vlad sat unmoving and unseeing, staring off into space as the stage members moved around them. Aro tried to maneuver a couple of times closer to them, but Eleazar and the others were quick to cut him off. They weren't going to let him touch them.

As soon as Edward had told us unsubtly that Aro had thought Edward was dead, Aro actually showing up made sense. He didn't think he would be caught. He thought he'd be able to talk himself and his coven out of trouble and easily say he hadn't known. Maybe he would say that he hadn't touched Caius and Heidi in years, that maybe he trusted them so much that he didn't feel he had to. It would have been a lie, but how to prove it?

Vladimir, Liam and Heidi kept their mouths shut. I hadn't talked to Edward since Izzy and I had holed up in the hotel room. Eleazar had taken care of everything. I wasn't sure what Edward was getting but as his feelings of smugness washed over me, I knew it had to be good. I wanted to ask, but I kept quiet, letting this all play out on its own time and in its own way.

The strain was high. I had to cut the emotions back to a low hum and let them intensify on their own without my help. I wasn't going to be the one to calm things down or speed things up. I felt like the people we were sitting with had the right to feel the way they did, and to hell with the rest.

Our group sat anxious and on high alert. Izzy sat beside me and her attention darted between everyone and anything that caught her consideration. Her eyes would narrow, assessing, evaluating and sizing up the situation.

For the first time since I'd known her, I felt her power caress me as it flowed over the room. She was attuned and aware of it all. I wondered why I was just now being able to feel her gift when she used it. It did seem that the more I was around her, the more we were together; the more we evolved with each other. The more we felt from each other.

The emotions on the stage were high strung, especially now that Aro saw Edward. His feelings were one of flight. Aro didn't want to be here.

Eleazar called for attention and proceeded to spin his speech, condemning those on stage and most of all, the ones who didn't bother to show up. When he was done, they argued. Aro was hysterical on the inside. That was before Edward had stood and called him a liar. After that, I thought if Aro could throw up he would have. He was pissing his pants. His guards outside were no protection for him in here. From what I understood over the years, Jane had to have line of sight to use her gift and Alec's power was a hazy smoke that we would be able to see coming. And even if he unleashed it, he risked the chance of incapacitating his own Master in the process. I wasn't sure who all else he had brought. I didn't think many more than just the three, but they were his strongest defenses.

Marcus looked bored, but his feelings were aware and interested in what was going on. He was amused at Aro's attempts to squash the punishments.

Isaak, unbeknownst to anyone's attention, was slowly creeping backward towards the exit. Good luck with that buddy, I thought. Our guys are right outside the door and no one left this place unless we said so. He wouldn't get far.

I didn't even notice when we had all stood, I was too busy tapping emotions and waiting for the bomb to go off. Because the wrath I was feeling behind me was brewing and they wanted justice.

I felt Zorg getting antsy. I wasn't sure why, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he let those feelings have flight. He'd been on edge this whole time and his anger and resentment were only increasing.

Sure enough, the moment Edward said Christopher's name there was recognition and hate coming from the shapeshifter behind me. Aro's tie to the other leader put him in Zorg's sights and Zorg was over our heads and on the stage before any of us had released a breath.

He aimed straight for Aro. Aro's confidence in Renata was unchecked; he believed she could protect him. He didn't even realize the horror flashing across her face as her power slid right over the Beast. Aro's head was removed without further preamble and the theater erupted. The bomb went off.

Izzy started to move and I quickly grabbed her arm.

"What-"

"Let them," I told her, "This should be their punishment to give."

"WAIT!" Stephan screamed as one of the furry went for him. He leaped up and over the creature ready to eat him, some kind of cat, and screamed again, "PLEASE!"

Izzy stepped back and our eyes met and I saw when she looked back to the stage that she understood. This should be theirs and theirs alone. We'd fought for their freedom. They were free and from the looks of it, they didn't need any help taking care of their justice.

Only twenty or so of the hundred people behind us rushed the stage. We watched as the furry passed us, and the not so furry flew around us to join the assault on stage. Eleazar, Sophia, Yakini, Alistair and Zafrina all moved to the side when they realized that the attack was going to happen whether they wanted it to or not. They made their way around the foray and down the stairs. Eleazar and Alistair stood in front of Tanya, Irina, Carmen, Garret and the others, holding them back from helping the vampires onstage.

Our group took Izzy's and my cue and none of them moved. Zafrina held Marcus in her hands, pulling him off stage with her. It seemed that everyone was on the same page. Edward would have told us different if Marcus needed a good whoopin, but I had a feeling he'd had no idea, unlike Aro.

Vladimir came out of the fray and Isabella wrenched out of my hands to meet him in the Orchestra pit he was trying to sneak through.

"Oh no you don't!" She grabbed him and threw him back onto the stage.

He screamed, "But I am your SIRE!"

"Exactly," Izzy let out a psychotic laugh that I was sure Vladimir didn't catch because he landed on a baboon of all things and his body was quickly shredded.

Damn, don't fuck with baboons!

Eleazar's coven stood dumbfounded, watching the creatures each take turns tearing into Vladimir, Aro, Liam, Stephan, Renata and the their entourages.

_"Isaak was slipping out the back, uh, what do you want us to do with him_?" Mac asked, a smile in his voice.

"Throw him back in," Peter told him. Over the side of the theater came a screaming Isaak.

Zorg and another wolf took care of him quickly.

_"Our sentry had to take Jane and Alec apart. They tried to use their mind skills and our sentries had to defend themselves. Do you want them added to the pile or… just light them up_?" Mac's amusement was loud and clear.

"Toss 'em over, let them finish them off as they see fit. Are they the only ones back there? I thought he brought more?" Peter wondered.

"_He did. There are two others with them, but they don't seem to have any nifty gifts and they're merely being retained_. _They aren't putting up a fight at all."_

"Ah, they haven't caused problems?" Peter sounded disappointed.

"_NoPe_."

"They can escort Marcus home, leave 'em intact," If they hadn't attacked yet, they most likely wouldn't and I had a feeling that Marcus could use the company and protection. Peter looked at me as I answered and pouted. I shrugged.

_"Copy."_

A side stage door opened and in came several of our sentry, guiding the two live and intact guards to Marcus who now not only felt amused, but his face finally matched his feelings. He wasn't smug per say, just amused. I wondered how long he'd wanted to see Aro go down in a flame of glory.

The heads of what I figured were Jane and Alec landed on stage, their bodies following. They were quickly shredded and added to the growing pile center stage.

Even if we didn't light the lot on fire, I don't think they would have been able to piece any of those guys back together… ever. It would take a decade to sort through the inch large chunks and make any semblance of their former shapes. Damn. Remind me to never get on the bad side of these guys.

The victorious stood on the stage over their prey, guarding them as if someone would take them away from them. No one made any move towards them. We weren't stupid. The fighters behind us cheered.

As things calmed, Eleazar stood forward, holding a lighter.

Zorg stepped out from the back of the crowd in his human form.

He looked to me and then to Izzy. She gave him an encouraging smile and I nodded my head ever so slightly at him.

"It is up to you," Eleazar told him, "You may do as you see fit. Passing judgment and punishment is clearly not our right. What happens here today is just and no matter what you choose, there will be no repercussions of your actions from the Powers. We all stand behind your decisions." Zafrina, Yakini, Sophia, and Marcus all bowed their heads in accord.

Zorg slowly nodded and took the Zippo from Eleazar. He looked to Marcus with a question in his eyes.

"He is my brother, but his actions have not been mine. Young Edward can attest to that," Marcus told him misunderstanding that Zorg was asking him silently if he was going to be ok with his brother being sent to true death.

"He didn't know any of it. His view is as ours is; that what they have done is immoral and should be punished as you see fit. But Marcus, Zorg was wondering… this is your brother… are you not upset that he is being put to death? He wants to know if he should watch his back for the rest of his life." Edward explained. Zorg's eyes sought Marcus's after Edward's little tell with a question in his eyes for Marcus.

Marcus gave a huge sigh and shook his head slowly, "I will not seek vengeance on you or yours. Aro and Caius over the years, hell over the last millennia or two, have created such turmoil and angst amongst us that this was going to happen eventually. They have tied us together with their guards so tightly, that being free of them is not so much a sacrifice as one would believe. Their shenanigans have created havoc on us more than once. Aro came here feeling superior as he always does when he feels that he is getting away with something he was only a part of in the shadows. It is his way. Was his way. I've told the two of them countless times that they will get themselves killed someday. It seems that day has come.

"I will tell you, young man, his wife and Caius will not be pleased. Please be careful with those two. As for me, you have nothing to fear. His death is not a surprise and has been a long time coming." Marcus gave Zorg a small bow at the end, making Zorg look a little surprised.

The reassurance of Marcus's words left Zorg to finish his task.

Zorg turned and the shifters and fighters all backed away off the stage as we watched him bend down and light the seeping venom of evil on fire.

**(=+)**

"A little anticlimactic," Peter muttered sourly.

"I thought it was fitting," Char disagreed.

"Better than standing around arguing what punishment of death we were going to hand down," Izzy agreed with Char, "That peacocking and hem hawing was about to drive me bat shit stupid."

"Still…" Peter shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm just happy it's over. We should be grateful it ended as it did." Ivan threw in.

"We still have a few to hunt down." Char reminded us.

"OH, that's right! We'll be heading that expedition," Peter pointed his thumbs at himself, "We'll have to do it before they get any ideas an' means of vengeance," Peter's eyes were alight again with a goal in mind.

"The fighters, rather survivors, deserved to bring down their own form of punishment on their captors and creators," Nevell commented quietly as he stared at the smoldering building, "We'll help them find the others, but it should be them who brings down the other guilty parties' punishment as well." by the sound of his voice he was satisfied that the fighters were the ones who brought justice. It was truly only fitting that they had.

"They did well. By the rage I felt from them all, we're lucky they had presence of mind not to kill us in their plight," I told them. Cause really? We were lucky as fuck. They could have easily taken us all. We'd been outnumbered by quite a bit, even with our team on the outside of the walls.

"I'm not saying it wasn't worth it, because it was, but I will be buying and rebuilding the amphitheater it seems," Eleazar noted. Venom is so highly flammable that it didn't take long for all of us to be high-tailing it out of the place as the flames took life. We were far enough away from town that we were just now hearing the fire engines coming. Far too late.

The shapeshifters who had not had to shift back to human form after leaving the building, stood around us sporadically here and there. We stood outside in the parking lot, watching the last of the embers smolder and smoke, discussing where we go from here. The ones who had fought had slunk off into the woods to feed from the local wildlife and shift back. Shifting took a lot of power reserves to change back and forth so quickly. They had to refuel.

Eleazar sighed, "I must go talk to the firemen. I have already informed the owner that his theater is in ruin. He was quite unhappy. You should get out of here before the Cavalry arrives."

"NO!" Peter yelled, "There's no way I'm leaving that ash in there! That's the best we've got to date!"

"Well, then you'll have to wait in the woods," Eleazar pointed us to the thick woods a ways away and we took off for cover.

At the edge of the tree line, back far enough so that no one would see both Eleazar and our covens, we stopped and gathered to watch Eleazar talk to the Fire Chief in the parking lot.

Irina stood off to the side, seeming as if she were pouting. I watched her twitch and look off into the distance like she was ready to bolt.

Izzy nudged me, I looked down at her and she was watching Irina as well. Then she nudged me again. I shared Irina's turmoil with her. She was anxious, overwhelmed, and the underlying longing in her was… confusing and all too familiar. Was she still that heartbroken over Laurent? Or was it something else?

Edward was the one to lean forward and whisper, "You have a new mate, Irina?"

Izzy's head snapped to Irina's face, and there was relief and sudden recognition as she studied the blond woman. The rest of our group stood in relief as well, and it dawned on me that Irina's feelings and fidgeting since we first saw her could have been taken an entirely different way. They'd thought she'd been a part of the mess before. Or knew about it. Only her emotions had given her away. She was missing her other half.

Irina looked sheepish, but her feelings were happy, elated even, with the ever presence of longing.

"Yes, a week ago. His name is Dominick." She said dreamily.

"Where is he?" Peter asked looking around like the guy would just pop out of the woods.

"He stayed behind in Alaska," She explained, "He's only been a vampire a year and his control isn't the best. He took to our diet, but it makes it hard for him." Her face never lost the dreamy quality or the anxious line in her forehead that she would rather be with him than here.

"So, uh, what happened to LaVaunt?" Peter asked mischievously. Izzy stiffened although Peter slaughtered the guy's name. I wondered if Irina would pick up on the fact that Peter shouldn't have really known his name or any semblance of it. By the look on her face she couldn't care less.

"Laurent," she said snidely, "He wasn't my mate. I thought he was, but he disappeared and never came back. Fucking asshole. I hated him."

"Bullbutter!" Emmett laughed a little too loudly, "You were in luuuuuv with the guy," Emmett sounded teasing but his eyes were sharp and his emotions were far too curious. He was digging for information for us where we shouldn't.

"No. He was an asshole. I hope he's ash somewhere. Dominick and I… well let's just say I know what it's like to really be mated now and I now know what all the hype is." She was smug.

Izzy let out an audible sigh and leaned back into me. How convenient was it that she had a mate a week before we were going to tell her what really happened to Laurent? I shared the relief my mate felt. We dodged a huge fucking bullet and I wanted to dance a jig that we wouldn't have one more thing to watch our backs for. I couldn't help but be selfish in thinking that we deserved the break.

"Well, Congratulations. There's nothing better than finding your mate," Izzy told her just as Eleazar joined us.

"What is this of mates?" He asked.

"We were just talking to Irina about her _Dominick_." Izzy told him.

His eyes lit up, "OH, Yes! Isn't it wonderful? We'll just never know how the world works. Just when I thought I would have to send Irina off to a good therapist to get over what's-his-nut up pops her mate. The world works mysteriously and none too _soon!" _HE gave us a knowing look and the understanding of his words flowed between us. We joined his laughter, as Irina still looked star struck and a little anxious to leave.

We caught his meaning that this would be the end of the discussion of Laurent. No need to bring it up ever again.

Fangs dodged.

"I think," Eleazar began to speak again, "We should let the dust settle and meet in two months time. I have talked to the others and we are unanimous. In the next two months, we will establish a list from the survivors of owners and those involved with their creation and kidnapping. We will let young Edward sort through the information he obtained from minds in the last two weeks and we will take them down one by one. Finding Caius will be hardest to extract wherever he has found himself. I have men already in Australia looking for Christopher. Zafrina has told me she is looking for Huilen. The three of them will be taken apart and saved for council. I know you also are looking.

"Council, as I have indicated, will be in two months. I hope that we can all work together to capture those responsible. In the meantime, the Powers who remain will be communicating how we go forward from here. Our infrastructure has been compromised, and I do believe it is time for new government. We will come with ideas and solutions and have a… 'round table' at that time. There are more than just vampires to protect."

"We'll be in contact, Eleazar. If you need anything let us know, we'll be there for ya," Peter told him, "I hope that this will not end our information sharin'." There was warning in his voice that Eleazar caught and nodded to us all in response to it.

"I truly hope that our new friendship is well intact. You make an ol' man young again," Eleazar laughed.

"I think that goes without saying Eleazar. I was proud and honored to fight along side you," I put my hand out and Eleazar grabbed it and brought me into a manly one-armed hug.

"I am proud of you as well young Jasper," Eleazar whispered so fast and quietly I doubted anyone but Isabella heard him. Pride wafted off him and I sent my gratitude to him in my own way without words.

As we pulled apart I wanted to make sure that there was no misunderstandings, "I trust that you and your counterparts know that there is already a structure in place for these people. They will not follow the vampire hierarchy. I do hope that is understood and you do not fight against that. Benjamin already heads the ghouls and has done well for them. He will not take kindly to be pushed aside. Neither will Nevell. Nevell has taken care of the dhampirs for years, decades, over a century even. They will not cower to your rules and commands."

I knew Nevell wasn't up to trying to maneuver Eleazar or anyone right now and I hoped he wasn't offended I had spoken for him. Glancing at him he gave me a crooked smile and a wave of gratitude. I felt relief that I hadn't stepped out of my bounds. In no way did I think he couldn't do it himself. But Benjamin wasn't here and I'd thrown Nevell into the mix with ease and without making him look less than what he truly was. He seemed to understand that.

Eleazar's emotions rocked back and forth between being insulted and shocked. Finally he settled for something of resignation and excitement. "I understand, Major. I have no reason to make others conform to our ways and what has been in place for vampires for centuries. I will make sure my companions know this is not negotiable. I am on your side in this, and I look forward to working with you."

I had faith that was the case with everything that I had seen of Eleazar so far. He'd quickly become a huge ally in this whole craze.

**(=+)**

Emmett and Rose went with Eleazar and his coven, along with several refugees that Carmen was already fussing over. Eleazar didn't dodge complete contempt from his camp, but he'd been right, they're minds were already on other things besides Eleazar's escapades that could've gotten him killed.

None of us were too surprised that Alistair and Marcus hit it off and Marcus decided to go home with the ruler of _Alistair's _'Volterra'. I got the impression they were quickly making an alliance of somekind. Marcus for the first time since he arrived felt something other than boredom. He felt anticipation. There was no way else to describe it and it rolled off in waves from him.

I had a feeling we would soon be hearing that either Caius was dead, or he and his wife along with Aro's wife fled Volterra. Bad for us, good for the world. Either way, Caius's days were numbered.

We went our separate ways after many good-byes and we'll call you's.

We took two jets out of the place. The second carried everyone not having to go on our side trip with us. Our sentry and refugees along with Ivan and Zorg took off to Mexico. I was a little excited that Zorg would be joining us. I had so many questions.

Mac had had Cheese's mate, Steffania, buying building materials and having them shipped in by the ton while we'd been gone. From my understanding, there would be a lot to do when we got home.

Home. Home was Izzy, but I couldn't help but feel for the first time in my existence, that I was settling down with a permanent base. I'd never had that. One place out of dozens I'd moved to over the last century had never been 'home'. Never places that we stayed long enough to be considered a 'home'. No one who ever made me ever want to stay.

I had one now. I knew Izzy found Canada to feel like home, and Eleazar reiterated again that we could have it. He wasn't going to let anyone move into that area, it would always be Izzy's and her gang's. She'd smiled but told Eleazar that she had a new place to lay her head and this time it was with her mate. New beginnings she'd said.

I'd have to build her a waterfall.

**(+=)**

We loaded on a jet. I wasn't even sure whose jet it was and frankly I didn't really care. The alligators loaded with us with Peter, Charlotte, Edward, and Nevell. They'd be going with them to find their families. Izzy and I were off to the Shaman, Caleigh I think her name was, to deliver our load of ashes. She would be doing the ceremony over the next couple of weeks to release any residual souls and set their spirits free.

Peter had gotten his wish of getting Vlad, Liam, Heidi, Jane, Isaak, Stephan and Alec's ashes. There had been three others that had been with them that were mixed with into the lot, but Peter didn't care. He had what was important. He put them in a huge neon pink tote and wrote 'important keep separate' on the outside.

Peter wouldn't let us know why Izzy and I were the ones to take them this time to his Shaman. Izzy's irritation at Peter's vagueness was comical and set my hairs on the back of my neck standing up. There was obviously a reason and his feelings were all over the place about it. I didn't see the big deal, but Izzy said it was. Peter had always been the one to take them, so now his change of mind set Izzy on edge.

The flight was filled with chatter and reminiscing of the last week's events. There was a murmur of relief that filled us and spilled out making the atmosphere pleasant, soothing and relaxing. Compared to the last days of turmoil, fear, anger, bloodlust, and all around anticipation, it was a welcome mix of feelings.

We landed in New Orleans and Peter gave us directions that led us to the outskirts of New Orleans and into the bayou. When Isabella and I made our way, we began to wonder where the fuck Peter had sent us.

We'd rented an SUV at the airport and I was glad that we got the insurance Peter insisted we get. The road we were on wasn't for luxury cars. It narrowed as we delved further and further into swampland and the road was less than desired. Potholes, or rather trenches, made the trip slow going and the trees eventually started to scrape the sides of the car. Peter had been adamant about taking the vehicle in as far as the road allowed.

The backwoods he sent us to was a little scary, even knowing being a vampire made us a predator, this place gave us the feeling of being its prey.

Major rose in me to peer out of my eyes, increasing the uneasy feelings. If he was on alert, then I sure as hell was paying attention. The long winding road ended into the blackened by night forest and Izzy turned off the car. We sat there looking into the headlights before they turned off, wondering what the hell we'd gotten ourselves into.

We got out slowly, watching our surroundings as if something would jump out at us. I dashed to the other side of the SUV to stand by Isabella. These woods gave me the creeps and I wasn't afraid to let it be known that I was being a pussy.

"What do you make of this? Do you get the feeling we're being watched?" Even whispering seemed to carry my voice too far into the swampy mess we'd found ourselves in.

"Yeah," she said and looked up at me. I saw the shadow in her eyes of Monstress and knew then that something was more than it appeared. If Monstress and Major were feeling like they needed to be present, then we both knew something was just not right in Swampland. "I don't see anything though." Her way of letting me know that even in her other sight, she saw nothing lurking. Her assurance didn't rid us of the uneasy feeling.

"Let's go, come on," I wrapped my arm around her, guiding her to the back of the SUV. We loaded down with Peter's totes and then I guided us forward.

As we made our way over fallen trees, bracken, and bushes, we seemed to be on the same page that we were taking this slow. The moss hung from the trees ominously like long fingers reaching to take the burden on our backs from us and we skirted around it the best we could. Even for vampires, the trees made it hard to see at times. That in itself was a little foreboding. It was like something else was at work here.

As we slipped between the trees, Izzy stopped and nodded to the right. I turned to see two yellow eyes staring back at us. In all rights there was no light here, the eyes had nothing to reflect off of.

"Mountain lion," Izzy said and Major made a deep growling in the back of my throat, warning the predator who was boss. In a blink, the eyes were gone and we moved forward.

Thirty-four minutes of walking at a human pace later, we came into a clearing with a cottage. Well, I think it was a cottage. I would have been relieved that we were out in the open, but the shack sat at the back of the clearing unpromisingly and gave me the willies. Izzy's intake of breath and feelings of apprehension fit exactly with mine.

I was going to kick Peter's ass.

Made of logs, it looked no bigger than a one or two room little shanty. A covered planked porch protruded from the front door and wrapped halfway around the little house. Moss grew on the roof and halfway down the sides like a living breathing organism. I guessed it was, after all, a living thing. But what hung from the rafters of the porch gave the moss a bit of life of its own. It's what first caught my attention. The little place was only fifty feet from us and we could see in detail what could only be described as witchcraft or voodoo shit hanging in warning from the porch roof.

Wind chimes made of bone, leather held feathers in webs, dream catcher's with the fresh smell of blood lingering on its strands, beads and hair interlaying the webs. Little naked cloth dolls with nooses around their necks and pins sticking out of them, swung in the non-existent breeze. An animal skull hung over the door. The wood beams holding the roof up were carved intricately, one on top of another with faces in mid horror, like sinister totem poles. Things I had no names for seemed to stare back at us, scrutinizing us.

Rattles of a rattlesnake's buttons made into wind chimes, chickered in warning.

Carved wooden figurines danced from their own strings amongst the shadows. A Rooster sat on top of the roof and at first I thought it was stuffed, until I stepped forward and it turned its red beady eyes on us. A single 'bock' rang out in the deadened night, making both of us jump.

"Fuck, where's the banjo player?" Izzy's strained voice just heightened my nerves. It sounded too loud in our surroundings, although she'd barely whispered.

"We ate him last week," came a husky amused voice right behind us, making us both jump. We whirled into crouches, growling and dropping our totes on the ground. I hadn't seen her draw it, but she had the business end of her katana pointed at the figure before us.

The woman stood tall, long chestnut hair waved over her shoulders and down her front, full of beads and tiny braids in random, enhancing her small frame. I was thin but there was a sturdiness about her that was startling. Her eyes were a bit crazed, if you ask me. Her face, full of sharp edges and angles, held a softness in contradiction with itself. Her hands peeked out in supplication from sleeves too long for them. Her hands were just as bony as the rest of her. Long dirt embedded nails shot out from her fingertips, looking a little too daunting with their jagged appearance. She wore some kind of patched embroidered full-length robe over a light blue… nightgown?

"He sent you finally," her voice swam warm around us as if it had substance of its own, "Grandpappy will be so happy for company!" she looked from my eyes to Izzy's and back again, and her face lit up in an ethereal beauty as she smiled, "He didn't tell me you were kin!"

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+=)**

**A/N**

**Kin -? Hmmm.**

**Who would I be if I didn't leave it there?**

**Short chapter… I know.**

**Next chapter will be Tuesday I hope, I won't make you wait too long for it.**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N**

**If there are mistakes it's all my fault... I tried to keep it as clean as I could, but I knowing me, I know there's bound to be mistakes in here...**

**There is only one chapter left after this. **

**(=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

_**Previously;**_

"_We ate him last week," came a husky amused voice right behind us, making us both jump. We whirled into crouches, growling and dropping our totes on the ground. I hadn't seen her draw it, but she had the business end of her katana pointed at the figure before us._

_The woman stood tall, long chestnut hair waved over her shoulders and down her front, full of beads and tiny braids in random, enhancing her small frame. I was thin but there was a sturdiness about her that was startling. Her eyes were a bit crazed, if you ask me. Her face, full of sharp edges and angles, held a softness in contradiction with itself. Her hands peeked out in supplication from sleeves too long for them. Her hands were just as bony as the rest of her. Long dirt embedded nails shot out from her fingertips, looking a little too daunting with their jagged appearance. She wore some kind of patched embroidered full-length robe over a light blue… nightgown?_

_"He sent you finally," her voice swam warm around us as if it had substance of its own, "Grandfather will be so happy for company!" she looked from my eyes to Izzy's and back again, and her face lit up in an ethereal beauty as she smiled, "He didn't tell me you were kin!"_

**~Monstress & Major~**

**~Izzy POV~**

We sat at a table in the tiny wooden two-bedroom house with glasses of whiskey in front of us that I was debating whether or not to drink. I think I was about to need it with the explanation Caleigh would give us, but I was afraid that the whiskey would cause hallucinations or something. Anyone who told a vampire they were virtually impossible to kill and that nothing drank or eaten could kill you, never met Caleigh before. I had a feeling that she could do whatever she wanted, and wasn't sure why I felt that way. Maybe it was just our present surroundings.

I weighed my options: good manners…or life. Would it be insulting if I didn't drink her elixir? Did I chance being beheaded by our host by not drinking whatever was in the glass? Or did I drink it and take my chances that it wouldn't turn me into a zombie?

Besides, look at the last month, hell, the last 20 years of my life. I knew better than to think vampires were indestructible.

Looking at Caleigh and her little…bungalow, I think I might have laid money on the fact she had come up with more natural ways to kill a vampire in her sleep.

The place was small, but what got me was that it appeared to be a kitchen with a bed and two tables. The bathroom made for the 'second' room. It was almost as big as the kitchen and I thanked Goddess I didn't have to pee as a vampire. I didn't want to go in there alone.

Bones, herbs, twine, leather, garlic, spices and shit I had no name for, hung around and above the long, thin, wooden table that acted as some sort of median, in one half of the room. One of those old well pumps brought water to a huge stainless steel barrel – one like you see in old western movies that they used to bathe in – in one corner, and I shit you not, a large black caldron in the other corner.

An old wood-cook stove sat opposite the caldron, cooking water for tea. At least that's what she said. I wasn't sure. Shelves lined the walls with books gadgets, bones, a skull… I stopped looking. I thought she was a Shaman… this place looked liked she was into voodoo. When I thought about it, was there much difference? I had a feeling I would be insulting her if I asked. I kept my mouth shut. I made a note to look it up. I wasn't exactly up on my sacrifices and potion making. I snorted at the thought.

The table we sat at was a huge round piece of wood, carved and sanded down, and could probably sit four people comfortably. Behind us was a bed with an old patchwork quilt in the corner.

Jasper and I sat on the side closest to the bed and Caleigh sat facing us closest to the other table and the door. If anything happened – like chanting or spell casting - I was outah here. Seeing how I was sitting on this side of the table, the only way out was the wall behind me. I hoped she didn't mind an 'Izzy' sized hole in her wall when I ran from here screaming.

Glancing around I wondered where her grandfather was. Didn't she say something about another person? I couldn't smell anything beyond the spices, herbs, old blood and whatnot scattered around the place.

Fey lanterns hung in various places setting off shadows and adding to the uncanny feeling of the place. I'd asked about them after introductions because it seemed she had no electricity. She said they were magic. I left it alone after that.

She let us look. Monstress was at full attention and couldn't take her eyes off Caleigh. She wanted to know what she'd meant by calling us 'kin'. Was she talking about Jasper? Me? Did she mean that we were vampires and Peter's family? She didn't mean WE were kin to _her_ did she?

I nudged Jasper under the table and cleared my throat. He turned his attention to me and away from the book titles he was trying to read behind Caleigh's head. He looked startled and his eyes were a little wild looking. I wondered if I had that same look.

"Oh…" He said intelligently and turned to the woman who sat patiently with a small smile on her face. She didn't look like she would eat us, but I just wasn't sure. "Uh..." This was more intelligence from Jasper than I'd ever seen before.

I snorted and leaned forward resting my arms on the table. I looked up to see Caleigh trying to hold in a laugh. "Well, I guess you can say I'm at a loss here. _We_ are at a loss. What did you mean by 'kin'?"

Her laugh was throaty and deep, but not unkind. "You are the same as me." At my eyebrows shooting into my hairline she reiterated, "You _used_ to be the same as me. Well you still are, but now different as well. To be honest I didn't think it was possible for someone like us to be Changed." Her accent was thick just like Sherman, Berg and the other alligators. That old Creole was something to get used to.

"Someone like us?" I said slowly. I kinda wanted to slap Jasper, he wasn't helping. Maybe she put him in a trance and made him brainless.

"Yes." She said with an affirmative nod, "Like us."

"I'm lost. What do you mean people 'like us'?" Was she implying we were Shamans?

She cocked her head to the side studying me for a long minute and I almost squirmed, but I held still. Was she waiting for me to figure it out?

"Shaman," she finally said Shaman? She was saying I was a Shaman? Or Jasper? What?

"Ok. You lost me there. Are you saying I'm a Shaman? Or Jasper? Because I'm not, nor have I ever been, a Shaman." I shook my head trying to clear it and deny her words all at once.

She laughed that laugh again sending a shivers down my arms as goose bumps popped up, "You both are Shamans. Am I wrong? I am never wrong. I can smell it on you. I see it in your eyes."

I refrained from sniffing my armpit. I sat back in my chair. She can smell something other than the overwhelming spices in the place? Yeah that's the question you should be asking yourself, dumbass.

"I don't think so. What do you mean in our eyes?" I asked warily.

"Your other halves of course, she's peering out now." She waved at me…at Monstress. "Helllloooo," she sang.

"You can see them?" Jasper finally found his tongue; thank Goddess because I'm floundering around like a fish on a stick over the coals.

"Of course silly," And as I looked at her, like really looked at her I caught the fey lantern's light in her eyes and realized what I thought was reflection of the flame was actually movement behind her eyes. I jumped back trying to put a little distance between us, knocking my chair over in my haste.

Jasper… Jasper sat there with his mouth gaping.

"OH," Jasper's way with words was catching as I stuttered for something to say, "You…"

Her amusement was not mine at this revelation. How had I not realized what I was looking at earlier? It was the same as when I saw Major, or when I saw Monstress in the mirror looking back at me.

Jasper reached over, grabbed my chair, put it under my ass, and pushed me back down to sit.

"I'm trying to figure out why the two of you are so shocked," She said as she crossed her arm across her stomach and the other played with the long necklace around her neck. The little bag on the end clinked as it swung back and forth. I tried not to stare at it. "To be honest I can't believe you're vampires. I've never heard of one of us being able to make it through the Change. Our magic interferes with the vampire pathogen." Pathogen. Virus.

"Like a virus?" Jasper choked.

"What would you call it?" She quirked a brow at him.

She had a point.

"You think we were Shamans? How, because… because of our eyes." I wasn't sure how or what to say about Monstress.

"Well yes. And you still smell of the magic of our kind." She gave me an 'uh duh' look.

"Magic?" I asked. She could smell magic?

"We're so confused," Jasper muttered.

"Maybe we should start by you telling me how you were Changed, hm? How old were you both?"

"I had just turned twenty-one," I said, "And it wasn't by choice."

"Twenty," Jasper replied but gave no more.

"Ah, that is a turbulent age, and it makes sense really that you didn't know," she nodded to herself, "Were you already aware of your spirit's presence? It is still young to have them make themselves aware to you, but not unheard of."

"Uh, what?" God if I got any more intelligent I'd have to shoot myself.

"Tell me, could you transform to your spirit's shape before your Change and can you change shape now?" Her eyes were alight with curiosity.

"What?" I squeaked.

"Can your spirit come forth and change your shape? Did she walk on earth before your Change?" She asked slowly.

"No," I told her, "But…" Should I tell her? What would be the harm? She looked at me expectantly and I found myself speaking whether I wanted to or not, "When I was Changed, I didn't remember anything. But… my…" what do I call her? I skipped it for now, "I was shown what happened. I didn't remember how I was Changed or what happened leading to it. I met my Sire recently, and the memory was, uh, shown to me. When the vampire who Changed me attacked me, my uh," Crap, "I saw my hand turn into a claw. Is that what you're talking about?"

Caleigh's eyes lit up, "What kind of claw?" Wow she understood what I'd said? Because I'm not sure I did.

"Erm, a _huge_ cat's paw. Larger than my own hand." I stammered.

She smashed her palms together once in a loud smack and smiled from ear to ear, "You're spirit is mountain lion! Or a cougar? How wonderful! Was it she who showed you the memory or was it you yourself who conjured up the remembrance?"

"I'm pretty sure it was her. No, I know it was her," I stuttered.

"Does she talk to you? Can you still shift now that you are vampire?" she asked again.

"Um, not that I know of. Are you telling me I'm a shapeshifter?" My head was spinning trying to keep up with the conversation and it took everything in me not to stand up and call 'bullshit'.

"OH, heavens no! Not a shapeshifter. Skinwalker is what we Shaman call it when we get our spirit walkers." Pride dripped from her voice.

A Skinwalker? Although I rebelled against the word, something inside me settled with the truth of it.

"It is not uncommon for your spirit guide to show itself in time of such need. I'm sure the experience was very traumatic for you and she was aware enough she came to your aid." She assessed. I sat back in the chair once more and wondered if we weren't in OZ. We did get off the jet in New Orleans, right?

By the lack of response Jasper and I showed she went on, "Maybe I should explain some things first."

That would be an _excellent _idea. Why hadn't I thought of that? Jasper's hand found mine under the table and he squeezed it sending me his love and feelings of rightness at what Caleigh was saying. I sent them back hesitantly.

After a long moment Caleigh laughed, "Well, I will tell you what I know and why this is such a shock for me. I will try and explain what it is to be Shaman and how it works. Then maybe some of your questions will be answered and you will find yourself less afraid to answer me.

"Shamans have been around a long time, as long as vampires have been around and we have been enemies just as long. The pathogen that changes the vehicular to create a vampire does not mix with our magic as I told you. I have heard that it can be done, but never met anyone who ever made it through the Change. Our magic rebels against it."

"Magic? You mean voodoo?" Jasper interrupted eyeing the shit on the walls.

She laughed again, "Goodness no. Not voodoo. Voodoo is of the evil spirits and speaks of demons and of the Nevernever. Shaman's work with earth as the Pagans did several millennia ago. We are parallel in many ways actually of the Pagan faith. Our magic is earth bound, Mother Nature born if you will. No voodoo involved.

"Each Shaman born is different in nature. Some are mages and work with the elements. Some can heal the sick and dying, some are more affluent in herbs and spices for making remedies and spells. Some are given more magic than others and can influence elements, emotions, or other magic even. Some see the world differently than anyone else can or they can protect themselves and others with specific magic. Some can repel bad magic or elements meant for harm.

"Most - there are a few who never get their spirit walkers, but it happens and it doesn't make them anymore or any less of a Shaman –spirit walkers manifest when the Shaman turns an age of maturity. It all really depends on what the spirits have decided. A spirit walker is chosen by the spirits beyond and appointed to a Shaman making them what we call a Skinwalker. But don't be misguided, that doesn't take away that you are Shaman; it is merely a type of Shaman. Spirit walkers are the souls that have passed on from one plane to anther. Over time, they are reborn and appointed for guardianships to a Shaman. It may be a little confusing at first, but when you are raised in our world it comes as second knowledge and something that doesn't have to be taught. Explaining it may take some time, years, but the cliff notes should give you the idea.

"The 'maturity' of an individual may depend on many things. Usually the first signs of a Shaman's spirit walker don't show up until your mid-twenties, at the earliest, some even later than that. It all depends on the needs of the individual and the strength of the spirit walker and the environment their host or Shaman is in. The young Shamans usually are not told of their heritage until the signs of the spirit make themselves known if one of the parents is human. Or, the magic of a Shaman is revealed. We are a secret society and guard our heritage until it is needed to be told."

"Like the wolves." I whispered.

"The wolves?" Caleigh cocked her head in question.

"Uh…" in for a penny in for a pound, "The Quileute wolves in La Push. When vampires are around, the men - sometimes woman - change into huge wolves to protect their village. The young ones are brought up knowing the legends but most believe them to be fables. The young ones don't go through the change to become wolf unless there's a threat of vampires around. So although they are told the legends, they aren't believed until it happens. Even then, most of the tribe is unaware that they aren't purely myth."

Caleigh regarded me for a long moment and I wondered if I hadn't made a mistake in telling her. She stared at the wolf claw hanging around my neck and slowly began to nod.

"That's probably better than I could have explained it myself," She finally smiled. I could tell she wanted to ask more questions but she went right back to her tale, "If it does not happen, if the magic does not present itself, the person is not even told because their human lives usually are unaffected by the Shaman bloodline. If you never saw signs of it before you were Changed, then it does not surprise me you were never told of your heritage. In this day and age we are more careful than we used to be. At the age you have said you were changed… your spirit walkers must have been extremely strong to manifest themselves in you. Yours even came to your rescue."

"So, you're saying that we were born this way?" Jasper asked.

"Yes. There are very few Shaman who live their life in a completely human way, usually only those born with one human parent. It comes with breeding with a non-Shaman. Although they are still technically Shaman, they do not practice any of the Shaman ways. Some even tend to hide their magic. The connection is usually lost in the gene pool eventually and the person could end up with no connection to the spirit world. We are human for all intense and purposes. But Shamans are a thread between the spirit world and the human world. When that thread is compromised, it weakens the connection. To put simply, if you father is human and your mother was Shaman, depending on how the spirit world felt about it, you many not inherit the Shaman gene.

"The spirit world gives a Shaman magic. The spirit walker has a vessel or skin then to transform itself and hence the "Skinwalker' title. But Shaman can be given many other tasks on Earth besides being a Skinwalker. Like I said, they can be mages, or guides between the spirit world and Earth, healers… like I said many things."

"So, since we have these… spirit walkers in us, we were 'preordained' to be this way from the beginning?" Jasper tried to understand.

"Yes, I believe so. When a babe is born Shaman and they reach maturity, some Shaman are known to perform rituals to attract the magic, or the spirit walker as the case may be, if the Shaman shows no sign of… magic. Sometimes the spirit walker or a Shaman's magic is so undefined it does not show up until the ritual is performed. At the first sign of the spirit walker over taking you, your parents or relative Shaman, should have told you of your heritage. But due to circumstances in your lives that might not have been possible, or the spirit walker was so undefined because of your age, they may not have known to look. Besides, I said there are those Shamans who walk the Earth completely human; your parents might have come from a line of Shaman who ever taught them. It does happen."

"I've made it to maturity and my father, who I still speak to, has never said anything." I argued.

"Twenty-one is still a few years before Shaman maturity. Does your father know about your spirit walker? Have you told him that you have the spirit of Cat inside you? And what of your mother?" She asked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat before I answered, "She died before I was changed. About 8 months prior."

"By accident, or?" She tried to pry respectably.

"Cancer," I said quietly.

"Ah," The sympathy in her eyes was overwhelming, "You still talk to you father?"

"Yes, regularly. I never told him about Monstress, but he's never said anything close to any of this. He knows of the wolves and he knows what I am. You would think at some point this conversation would have come up. I was changed almost eighteen years ago." I told her.

She was quiet a long time and I actually fidgeted under her gaze. Maybe it was my mom. I thought about her and how she'd lived her life. Free spirited. I hadn't even seen my mom for a long time before she died. When she finally told me she had cancer she was gone a month later. Would she have told my dad before or during their marriage? Knowing her, probably not. The cancer took her so fast…

"You spoke of the wolves. When did you find out about them?" The switch in subject caught me off guard.

"Before my Change, soon after I found out there were vampires."

That surprised her, "You knew of vampires and wolves before your Change?"

"Almost four years before I Changed." I said indignantly.

"Oh," She breathed, "Now it makes sense." She nodded to herself and let go another husky laugh.

"Uh, could you explain it to me?"

"From what you've just told me… I see a pattern here," she let go a snort, "You were around vampires, wolves and whatever else, more than likely this brought your spirit walker forward early. It's why she was able to manifest herself from you when you were Changed. You were living a world of threat, which would bring her to come to you much earlier than normal, so she could protect you and give you knowledge. Intuition. Tell me how were you Changed? Not by choice, right? You said earlier you were shown a memory."

"No I was attacked. It wasn't a choice," I said bitterly. Although I wouldn't change what I am, it still burned I wasn't in control of the time, place or most importantly the who of my change. "I was actually tortured for three days before hand."

"Ah, even more clearly now I see," her head nodding was going to drive me to throttle her, "Like I said the trauma of your Change brought forth your spirit walker before she was ready. The fact that you saw her emerge to help you… it's as if… well this is all theory. I've never talked to a Shaman who was Changed by the vampire pathogen. But knowing what I do and what you have told me… you were too young for her to emerge in you properly, but close enough to maturity and close enough to enemies, that she forced her magic to be used before she was fully there. She forced herself there to protect you. Both of you had three days of trauma and forcing the thread between worlds, she was able to come forth finally and manifest herself through you in this world. But such a transition and a forced one at that, made her weak and she could not fight off the vampire pathogen.

"Your body now, not being able to transform due to being vampire has trapped her inside you. I can only guess that she was enough apart of you that she was able to stay when you were Changed. You became neither Skinwalker nor vampire, but both."

I wanted to argue with her. I wanted to say I wasn't what she was saying. I was not Shaman who had been given a spirit walker making me a Skinwalker. I didn't have magic. I also wanted to dance on the table for the explanation and knowledge, because deep down inside things were finally making sense to me. That 'rightness' of words swarmed in my head and Monstress undulated and purred against me with the truth of it. She knew. She'd known and had no way to tell me.

She was trapped inside me.

I would have been a Skinwalker.

"What… how… I mean what's a Skinwalker really? You're saying that we would have eventually changed shape or would have been shapeshifters?"

"No, not shapeshifters. Skinwalker. There is a difference between the two. They are two different worlds. Shapeshifters are of a specific species. The shapeshifter shares the soul of its beast. A Skinwalker has a soul of their own and a spirit walker guide that has its own soul. You and the spirit share the body. The vessel. And yes, you would have been able to change shape. Well, the spirit walker would have been able to conform your body to change. She can use her magic from the spirit world when she is in her form in our world. Being trapped inside you now, not being able to shift to her form, I would imagine eliminates her magic."

Oh man. Seriously? Monstress snarled in my head and I got the feeling Caleigh was wrong. I had a feeling she let us use her magic just fine. But I kept my mouth shut and Monstress tempered, for now.

"The spirit walker guides you giving you a strength and knowledge you wouldn't normally have. It gives you magic." Caleigh said.

I looked over to Jasper to see him sitting dumbfounded as I was. And he hadn't been any help whatsoever; he'd let me waddle around like a duck outah water all by my lonesome.

As if seeing my attention shift Caleigh turned to a very quiet Jasper, "What of you Jasper? How were you Changed?"

"Not by choice." Jasper said as if he were answering on autopilot and his brain was somewhere else. He'd been putting pieces together from the information Caleigh had been telling me. His answer confirmed that.

"I see, and when you awoke, your spirit walker was with you?" She asked him carefully.

"Yes," he said and his voice had little more life in it this time. I sat back to watch her work on him now.

"And what is your spirit that shares you?" she asked gently.

Jasper looked uncomfortable and I squeezed his hand in support, he gave me a dose of gratitude and after taking a deep breath he muttered, "Black panther."

Caleigh whistled low and long, "Very rare. And your spirits name?"

Jasper choked but answered, "Major."

"Ah. That's an unusual name. Tell me why," She demanded kindly.

Jasper told her about being changed by Maria, although he left out her name, during the Civil War and how Major was there when he woke up. He explained the extra strength and how Major took over where he would have failed when fighting for Maria. She and I both sat in rapt attention as he remembered his time and what Major did for him. The more he talked the more at ease he seemed to become. He'd never had anyone to talk to before about Major and I knew from the past month that it was hard for him to open up about it.

"Does he talk to you? Or show you memories?" She asked him.

"Not the same way Isabella has said that Monstress talks to her. Not memories exactly, more like emotions. He guides me with… intuition and sometimes flashes of pictures, but…" he seemed sad or confused that his connection wasn't as forthright.

"From what you have explained, Jasper, I think that the reason being is that you were changed differently. I don't think that Major was as defined in you at the time of your change. That he was there at all… is very unique at your age of your change. You were even younger than Isabella and not having been around the supernatural forcing him come forth early. The only thing I can think of why he was there at all as early as he was, was that you were in danger and amongst fighting in the Civil War. He protected you and gave you strength before you were even aware of him."

We digested that.

"You mean he was there before I was changed into a vampire? But I don't remember…." Jasper tried to deny and as he worked out the logistics.

"More than likely he wasn't able to let you know, but from what you have told me, he was there. Your affirmation that you were charismatic is a characteristic of Shaman talents. Him not being able to 'speak' to you now and only show you guidance may stem from several different things. Not all spirit walkers are able to speak, for one. For another you were quite young for him to manifest himself in you. Another reason might be because of the vampire pathogen. My theory is that the trauma of your life with your Sire hurt him. Stunted him if you will. When he could have been healing the both of you and teaching you, he was instead making sure you both survived and protecting your mind. Your time with your Sire was very… traumatic doesn't seem a strong enough word… but nevertheless… you were made to fight, to survive as soon as you awoke. You had no transitional time. He obviously came though the change with you and that alone could have impaired him. If he wasn't dominant in you or fully manifested… it is a surprise that either of you made it at all. Major not being completely transitioned in you, probably saved both of your lives.

"I told you before, the vampire pathogen is poison to Shaman's magic. That you came through the Change at all is a miracle, to come through it with him and some of your magic is… phenomenal to say the least. And don't sell yourself short Jasper; I can feel your strength. I can feel Major's magic, it is strong indeed. You're belief in your own magic will make you all that much stronger."

"Magic?" Jasper rolled the word around.

"You said you are an empath. Empathy is Shaman magic. Charismatic in nature is a Shaman's way of earning trust in those not so willing to be… let us say… agreeable," She shrugged like it was common knowledge.

"So Jasper's empathy isn't a vampire gift?" I said in wonder.

"I wouldn't think so. I could be wrong, but I don't see how it's possible. This is all truly… dumbfounding. You see, it takes years for the true magic of a Skinwalker to be known once the spirit enters them, sometimes decades, centuries. If the magic is never needed sometimes it will never manifest itself." She shrugged again, "You're spirit walker obviously pulled magic with him when he crossed planes and joined you in the transformation to vampire, and has allowed you use of it."

We sat and I stared off into space and tried to digest everything that was laid before us. My mind ran in loops and I felt the warmth of Monstress settle herself down inside me in comfort. She wasn't anxious or nervous. She wasn't agitated or… it was like she finally was comforted by the knowledge that I was learning this. Like she was comforted by the fact that I now k_new._

I would have been a supernatural freak if I'd wanted to be or not, with or without becoming a vampire. I felt cheated that I _was_ a vampire, but I wasn't so sure that wasn't Monstress's feelings on the matter. I think a little of both.

A Shaman Skinwalker.

I still wasn't sure what that exactly detailed. It made sense… the whole thing… in a strange out of body way. How Monstress came to be. How she guided me and gave me strength. Was it her magic that gave me the telekinesis or the infrared sight? I'd have to ask later. Seeing how Major gave Jasper his gifts then maybe mine came from Monstress.

Being able to feel her on the inside of my skin, was that her way of wanting to change? Was that her trying to manifest herself on this plane? The vampirism stopped it from happening? That part made sense. Vampires couldn't change shape that I knew of. Their bodies trapped in the never changing age they'd been transformed in during the change. Women couldn't have children. Men couldn't make a woman have children… well besides right after they were first changed apparently. We never grew old.

Monstress knowing more than I did and being able to share…

"What…" I choked on my own venom and tried to swallow it down as the thought came to me, "You said that the spirit of, well, what exactly is the spirit? Where does it come from?"

"The spirit world." Caleigh's face morphed into a look that said 'is this girl not functioning on all cylinders'.

"What I mean is," I looked at Jasper and could tell he was trying to tell where I was going with this. I turned back to Caleigh, "Monstress has shown me memories."

"Yes, sweetie, you told me that," Ok, she was treating me as if I was two and learning to eat by myself.

"No, I mean she's shown me… HER memories," I gritted.

Caleigh's face went blank. Hah! Maybe she didn't know what she was talking about. Maybe she was going to say this was all just a joke and she'd been wrong.

Jasper sat forward anxious to see what Caleigh would say to that too seemingly to see where I was going with this.

"Monstress has shown me her life as a mountain cat," I made sure she understood.

When she spoke her voice was so quiet I barely caught her words, "She showed you her past life?"

"Yes," I said and seeing as I was on a roll and liked that I'd stumped her I went on, "She also showed me the Major."

Then I felt bad cause her face warped into this … frozen stunned 'oh my goddess I just saw the Devil' look. I was rethinking the wisdom of sharing. Jasper's hand gripped mine and I turned to him seeing the concern on his face.

"Do you think that was too much? Do you think we broke her?" I whispered at vampire speed.

"I don't know. Maybe she's wrong about all this," He mused, but the frown told me he didn't believe that any more than I did.

"What does Major say about it?" I whispered.

"Uh," He looked a little bewildered, "He's calm." He simply said and looked at me with the most adorable confused look on his face, "He's always restless and aware and alert when he's… present. Right now, I know he's present, but he's like the cat that ate a huge bowl of milk and now laid back for a nap." Then he did something I thought I'd never hear out of my mate's mouth… he fucking giggled.

I felt my brow crunch as I stared at him speechless. He didn't stop either, he kept right on giggling like a fifteen year old girl telling her friend she just kissed a boy for the first time, or saw her friend's dad getting dressed and saw her first penis.

Jasper laid his head down on the table and although he muffled his laughter his shoulders still shook with obvious suppression. I eyed the whiskey he'd drank. I blamed it. I pushed my glass away from me, no way in hell was drinking that now.

He kept laughing and I wondered just how much he drank? That was his first glass right? I didn't see him re-fill it and I'd only remembered him taking that one drink. Jeez. It was cute though. Kinda endearing. I let out a giggle at his antics. The first giggle slipped, and then another. I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes; maybe if I didn't look at him in hysterics it wouldn't affect me.

That worked until he projected. Shit. More giggles. More laughter. I snorted with the effort to stop myself that just made Jasper gasp and give in, he let his laughter flow and took me with him.

The bursts of his projection caught Caleigh and it drug her down with us as the three of us began to laugh hysterically.

Jasper pounded his fist on the table that his head still lay draped on and stomped his foot. There was no one here to stop this craziness.

I was going to kill Peter. He had to have known. He would have known. He had said nothing and landed us square into Crazytown. This had to be a joke. This all had to be made up. Maybe this was Peter getting even with me for telling him off so many times. Maybe there was a camera somewhere around here and Peter and the others were watching and getting a big kick out of us believing it all.

Deep down I knew that wasn't true. Somehow this was all real and Jasper and I had lost our goddamn marbles trying to wrap our heads around all of it. Letting the laughter fill us released the tension and disorientation of information of the last couple of hours.

Somehow Jasper got a grip on himself and we slowly calmed down. Caleigh wiped tears of mirth from her face and sobered up.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Caleigh dove back into topic without comment on what had just happened, "She's shown you her past life?"

"Yes." I said with a nod and waited for her theory on that. I didn't understand enough to even guess at what she'd say.

"And she showed you Major?" She made sure.

"Yes. As mates apparently, they had cubs together." I said quietly and Jasper grabbed my hand and squeezed.

"That's… wow. So they were mated spirits. _Are _mated spirits. And so… Jasper sought you out after you were Changed having felt her arrival on this plane." Her statement was shocking and not what I expected.

That gave me pause.

Jasper was the one to find his voice first, "Actually, no." He told Caleigh how we'd met. Edward's involvement, Alice, his Sire, Carlisle, Esme… I wasn't sure he meant to tell her the whole thing, but to understand how we came here today snowballed until he was telling her everything. Every little nuance. If we wanted her to understand, it was only right she knew everything.

When Jasper was done she looked overwhelmed. I didn't blame her. Welcome to my world, I thought.

"The spirits know no bounds, do they?" She muttered under her breath. Louder she spoke to us, "Being Shaman it does not surprise me that you were born more than a century apart. Shamans can live a long time. Not usually eternity, but long enough. Thousands of years sometimes, it all depends on the spirit world and what it deems as worth. Of course if we are not careful we may die before our time, we are not immeasurable, or indestructible. So Jasper being born when he was would not have made it impossible for the two of you to find each other eventually. If it had progressed naturally as it was meant to, when Isabella was born and then with her maturity and when the spirit walker came upon her, Jasper would have felt the pull toward her then. You both would have." She spoke as if she were speaking out loud and working it out as she went. I was glad she for that. What she said had a ring of truth to it.

"It is ironic and… beyond my comprehension that Jasper was changed the way he was and then Isabella in similar circumstances and then…" her voice trailed off as she stared at the ceiling as if to look at something we couldn't see.

"I knew Jasper was my mate right after I came out of the change." I interrupted her stare down with the cobwebs.

She nodded absently, "Your spirit walker would have known him instantly especially having met him before."

"But I didn't know that Isabella was mine when I met her," Jasper argued, "and when she became a vampire I didn't know she was even alive."

"Ah, yes, but you said that you tried to take her when she cut herself, then you suppressed Major for years. It is amazing that you were able to do that in and of itself, but his being was…'damaged' if you will, during your Change I'm not surprised. He does appear stronger in some aspects as compared to Monstress, but he is also weaker in others." She sighed and rubbed her face with both hands, "I'm afraid this will take a long time to sort out. The spirit world works beyond our comprehension and for its own reasons. You may never know how the events of your creation in the Shaman world took place. Magic is magic. There really is no rhyme or reason to it sometimes, it is what it is and knows no bounds when it guides us. We can borrow from it, shape it, mold it to our liking, but in the end it is its own making and will do as it pleases. Nothing is guaranteed. Magic is tricky that way."

Silence fell over us once again and I listened to the chimes outside gently rocking in the midst of the night. The wind did not stir and it seemed to just confirm the words that Caleigh had just spoken; Magic is tricky.

Monstress still rested lazily in my head. In my being. There was satisfaction in knowing she was meant to be there. The truth of it put something inside me to rest and eased my disquiet. I felt Jasper and my bond slip into a tighter existence, like we'd been playing tug of war and all of a sudden we both stopped and let the rope stay steady and strong between us. As if we were pulling toward each other instead of away from each other.

Jasper and my eyes met and I knew he felt it, I knew he could feel the threads that bound us strengthen and tighten as we accepted our fate. We were both mystified over the events and what we'd been told, and both of us had a million questions, but we believed it. That _belief_ solidified our bond.

All was right in the world. Even though I had a gazillion questions, I settled into the fact that I'd just learned that Monstress was mine, and I hers. And even if I'd known it before the absolute truth that I was Jasper's as well as Major's… just gave me chills. To have it confirmed. To have someone finally be able to put words to it, although I may not understand them, I would do everything in my power to comprehend and see what I could do with them.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard the bells go off. I'm embarrassed to admit I almost ducked under the table figuring the ruse was up and Caleigh was going to bring down some voodoo shit on our heads.

Caleigh saw my reaction and laughed, reached inside her robe and pulled out a square metal looking thing flipping it open. It took me a full three seconds to realize it was a fucking phone.

I snorted and Jasper laughed along with me. Jeez. For being so comfortable now, we were sure jumpy.

"Hellllo, my friend!" She sang into the mouth piece.

"_Well hello to you. Did my party make it, or did you eat them?_" I heard Peter's voice boom on the other end. Neither Jasper nor I had our COM's on. Nor did we have our cell phones.

"Oh, I just put them in the pot to simmer, they should be done anytime now," Caleigh's laugh echoed Peter's.

Hah, ha.

"_We're on our way, just wanted to give you a heads up we have company with us_," Peter informed her.

"OH! The more the merrier. You're welcome anytime, see you soon." Caleigh answered and without preamble hung up the phone.

"Well looks like it's going to be a party!"

**(+=+=+=+=+=+=+)**

**A/N**

**It's a messy explanation, eh? lol but I think the three of them are falling over themselves with the new knowledge on both sides.**

**I know, another short chapter... next chapter won't be up 'til next week to wrap things up a bit.**

**Tell me what your thoughts are on all of this... **

**Did I lose any of you?**

**;)**


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